Outsiders
by trestwho
Summary: When Louise attempted her summoning, the last thing she expected was being brought face to face with an angry God. Now forced into an unknown world vastly different than her own, she must prove herself to be the very best, like no one ever was.
1. Season 1, Episode 1, Chapter 1

Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 1, Chapter 1

* * *

Being a god, Arceus mused, was not as easy as people think. Godhood was a massive responsibility. Between temporal anomalies, extra-dimensional threats, Ultra Beasts, and preventing his creations from destroying each other... et cetera, et cetera. Not that Arceus would bemoan His role in existence (He was quite happy with the task fate had appointed Him) but in the end, He would not wish it on anyone. Those thoughts, and more like them, surfaced irregularly as Arceus went about His duties as the creator-god of His iteration of Earth.

Quieting His thoughts, Arceus cast His senses out, immediately aligning on Keldeo, the youngest of the Swords of Justice. He smiled, feeling proud of the young colt's achievement, having finally been accepted as the full-fledged fourth member of the trio, then briefly passed over a man with messy, mint-colored hair. This man, the chosen of Reshiram, was working to bring Humans and Pokémon closer together, beyond the traditional Trainer-Battler relationship that defined so many. Indeed, there were few that held the conviction that this man had, such as a raven-haired boy who had touched so many.

Moving on, Arceus rested His gaze on Shamouti Island to check on the Lugia living there and his flock. The last time the three winged mirages got riled up, it took Arceus days to clean up their mess and ensure that there wouldn't be any lasting damage. No one wanted a repeat of that... incident. To His relief, it appeared that there weren't any problems on or near the island, for the moment at least.

Arceus returned to observing the world, taking note of events as they transpired: big or small, good or ill. A couple holding hands, an egg appearing at a day care, criminals preparing a heist, an old Pokémon breathing its last. Arceus could gaze upon all of His children, no matter who or where they are, and His gaze fell next on a particular young boy currently in Alola.

"Humph, they were bound to win at some point," Arceus chuckled to Himself, noting how a familiar trio of criminals finally managed to beat the boy they had been hounding after so many years. His amusement turned into curiosity as a Bewear arrived to take them away. "Strange, I wonder how-"

Then Arceus felt it, a disturbance reaching out across His world towards a specific target. He had plenty of experience dealing with anomalies like this and immediately set about canceling and locating the source.

"Where are you?" Arceus questioned as He began to narrow down His search. Much to His annoyance, the anomaly repeated itself. That was odd. Usually, it only happened once before the source gave up. Having it happen twice in a row was a rare occurrence.

Soon after, Arceus located the source: a world that was both separate yet connected to His, one He had been dealing with for the past six millennia. He should have figured, but there'd been a few false leads over the centuries and He wanted to be sure. Arceus normally couldn't gaze upon worlds beyond His own. He could gaze upon all His children, yes, but His sight didn't extend to where His children weren't. This time, however, He was in luck. For the first time in six thousand years, He could finally look upon the world that had given Him so much trouble. A single family located in a small village on the western subcontinent, with one luckily employed at the location of the anomaly - they were His.

Arceus noted that much had changed since the last time He saw it in full, although that admittedly was only a partial observation. That was to be expected, after all; six thousand years had passed. All things change given enough time. The small tribes of the past had coalesced into kingdoms, united into empires, prospered for a time, declined and collapsed via decadence or infighting or outside invasion or natural disaster or all the above, and picked themselves up to start all over again. A time traveler could learn much more, but the most basic glance at the number and architectural variety of abandoned and ruined structures suggested that this cycle of civilizations had repeated itself on the western subcontinent at least five times... in the last two thousand years alone. At the present, the region's technological and cultural state was roughly equivalent to His world's Early Modern period, with the mages, who had once lived alongside their non-magical neighbors as their protectors, asserting a divine right to rule over them.

"How crude," Arceus muttered to Himself. That information, although interesting, was not His concern. He focused again on the source of the anomaly: oddly enough, a young girl, with hair on the lighter side of pink, dressed in what appeared to be a university uniform - judging by the dress of her compatriots - complete with a pentagram-engraved brooch and cape. Compared to her compatriots, she was quite unassuming, with the only distinguishable features being her pink hair and less than developed figure.

"A Familiar Summoning. Of course," Arceus snarled as He pieced together what was happening. Judging by the creatures that were around what He assumed were her fellow students, Arceus figured that the girl before him was the source of the disturbance. Worse, given what her intended summoning was, she could only have one possible affinity. "Void." Oh, how Arceus hated the term, ever since He first encountered this meaning of it six thousand years earlier. Arceus was about to turn away when, to His surprise, the girl began to chant again.

If twice was rare, three times was unprecedented. No other Void mage had ever attempted to summon something from His world three times. Most gave up after the first try, or simply summoned something else, so what was driving this girl to try to summon one of His children three times? Was it power? After all, her target had a lot of potential. Status? Fame? At this point, His annoyance became cold anger at the rosette's actions and He was about to dismiss the summoning again when an errant thought stopped Him. Although Arceus had been dealing with these summonings for thousands of years, He never had a chance to discover why they kept happening, why those "Void" mages kept trying to enslave his children. Until now, Arceus never had the opportunity to explore Halkegenia in full, merely glimpses as he stopped the various summonings from over the years. But since this girl kept attempting her summoning, He could now to hijack the summoning from the onset, turning it from a one-way gate into a two-way bridge that He could, at least for the moment, use to his advantage. While He would need a scout to better understand the Void mage and the land itself, Arceus already had a little sprite in mind for the task, and although in Halkegenia the gate would only be open for a fraction of a second, for beings of time that would be an eternity. It would be more than enough to satiate both of their curiosities.

Now, after all these years, He had a perfect opportunity to question one of these mages in person, to discover why they kept occurring and why this girl persisted instead of giving up like all her predecessors. If he could stop a summoning, what stopped Him from reversing it and bringing her to Him? He could easily pull her through, interrogate her, and return her to the university without any of her peers noticing.

With His mind made up, Arceus ordered the sprite to gather intel on the Void mage and the land she called home. Once Celebi made it through, Arceus forced His will upon the spell, overpowered the magic and intention of the caster, and instead of something crossing over into her world, she was brought over to His.

* * *

The smoke from Louise's latest failure cleared, revealing... a place that wasn't the Academy grounds. She stood on a floor of the clearest glass she'd ever seen, framed by pristine lines of white marble. A matching stairway behind her connected to a ruin of much less intact stone that looked like it was maybe possibly important hundreds of years ago. If the clouds further below were any indication, the ruin itself was atop a mountain as high as any in the Romalian Alps, and with her standing a hundred feet above that... it was enough to make her a little woozy. Just a little, though. This still wasn't as bad as that one time she and Henrietta stole a flight on Mr. Fluffles, but at le- A curt series of taps drew Louise's attention to the floor's other occupant, a great, white, horse-like, obviously magical... creature.

The beast itself towered over Louise, standing twice as tall as the girl but feeling even greater, as if she was a mere ant and it a human. It stood on four legs, the white of most of its fur accented by dark gray on its lower neck and underside. Three horns adorned its head, two small ones pointing up from the sides and a grand one on the back - or maybe it was more of a mane? Its hooves shone like pure gold and around its waist was a cross, almost circular in design, shining the same gold as its hooves and adorned with emeralds matching its eyes. It had no mouth Louise could see, but to her shock it somehow began to speak directly into her mind.

"Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Vallière," the creature began, in a deep, powerful tone that sounded equal parts heavenly and utterly terrifying to the strawberry blonde girl. It continued, not in a natural speaking tone but as if it was simply reading a list of facts - and Louise soon realized the comparison was all too accurate. "Age: 16. Gender: Female. Species: Human, Mage. Status: Daughter of Duchess Karin de la Vallière and current second year student at the Tristainian Academy of Magic."

"Wha…where am I?! Who are you!?" Louise yelled, frightened out of her mind. To her frustration, the creature ignored her and continued.

"Theoretical applications of magic are stellar, receiving top marks from all professors and tutors." Louise perked up at that, if only slightly, still too confused and frightened to go any further. "Practical applications leave…something to be desired." And just like that she deflated. "Ranking: Dot. Affinity: Void."

"Wait what!?" Louise yelled out in confusion. "I'm a what mage!?"

"You will not interrupt again," The creature declared, the sheer force of its statement quieting Louise despite herself. Satisfied, it repeated, "Affinity: Void. You were attempting to summon a…familiar, yes?"

After a few moments, Louise spoke up again, her questions pouring out in a flood. "Wha…What? What is going on?! Where am I?! Who are you!? Am I dead?! Oh Founder, I'm dead aren't I! They all said this would happen! I said it wouldn't but now I'm here and now I'm dead and…!"

"Silence," the creature ordered. It sighed, then carried on. "You are not dead. I brought you here to answer a few questions. I will answer yours; you will answer mine," the creature proposed.

Louise didn't really know what to think. At the very least, she wasn't dead, but the way the creature spoke... she didn't have a choice, not really. Louise responded before it could grow any more irritated, "I…okay. Before I answer any of your questions, I dema- I want to know who you are, where we are, and why I am here. ...Please?"

The creature stood there, almost in contemplation, before it answered. "I am Arceus, the Original One, the creator of my world. You stand in the Hall of Origin, my home atop Mt. Coronet in the land of Sinnoh, the place upon which I watch over all my children. This is not Tristain, Halkegenia, or any place in your world. You are in mine. Now, I will ask again. You were attempting to summon a familiar, yes?"

Louise almost didn't hear the question, she was in so much shock. The creature, Arceus, basically called itself a god who had taken her not only out of Tristain but to another world altogether. Not only was that unheard of, it was heresy of the highest order... and she was inclined to believe it. After all, it brought her here, and she could hardly deny its power while standing in such sheer presence. "I…yes. I was partaking in the Springtime Familiar Summoning Ceremony. It's a sacred-"

"I know what it is. It is a ritual that all mages undertake after their sixteenth year of age where they summon a familiar. I would know what it is, as I have been dealing with it for the past six thousand years." Annoyance and anger leaked into Arceus's voice, Louise could tell, as its tone intensified. "Every generation, for the past six millennia, at least one person, most of the time many, has attempted to 'summon' one of my children, to spirit them away from their homes and families without any regard for them, and bind them to their will!" Arceus was yelling at this point, and Louise was starting to feel the air around her shift with Arceus. "So, when I find that you attempted to kidnap one of my children not once, not twice, but three times, I demand answers!" The force of this last shout was enough to knock Louise over.

"I…Mr. Arceus, I did not intend to kidnap one of your children. I intended to only summon a creature from my home, not from yours. Here." Louise began to panic at this point. Who wouldn't, after being told by an angry parent you almost summoned their kid? ...A parent who could easily kill you, as it turned out. It was a long way down from the roof of the world.

"It wasn't from my Hall, the mountain below, or even Sinnoh. All creatures on the Earth, from Humans, Pokémon to the smallest insect, are my children, my responsibility. After what that fool did, I was not about to let another one of my children suffer at the hands of a Void mage!" Arceus snarled, but then seemed to calm itself upon looking at the fear on Louise's face. "For the past six thousand years I have blocked these summonings - and yes, before you ask, I am the one who stopped your first two attempts. But when you kept trying to summon one of my children, rather than stop like all your predecessors did and either abandon the summoning or summon something from your world, you persisted. Why?"

"Wait, you…stopped my summoning? Both times?" Louise asked, hope and irritation rising in her voice: hope from the knowledge that she perhaps wasn't a failure, and irritation as to know beginning to realize why she failed. "Did you cause all my spells to misfire too?!"

"Only your failed summons were my doing. As I said previously, you are a Void mage and simply used the wrong element. Now answer the question: Why. Did. You. Keep. Persisting?"

At this point, Louise was no longer scared, or at least that fear she had got replaced by anger, and she refused to back down. "That was not my intention! I kept trying because if I didn't summon something, anything, I would have been a failure as a mage and as a noble!"

Arceus stared down at her, looking at her with a strange look in its eyes, before it once again spoke. "I see. Not malice, then, but desperation?"

"Yes!" Louise yelled.

After a moment of contemplation, Arceus calmly answered. "I believe you."

"Thank you. Now, I will take my familiar and be on my way." Louise shot back, fully done with this situation, and turned to leave.

"No." Arceus's abrupt reply caught Louise off guard, causing her to trip.

"What!? Why not!?" Louise yelled back at Arceus, in righteous anger.

"You are not worthy of it." Arceus' answer stopped all thoughts in Louise's head. "No matter. You will be home shortly. No time will have passed for the others." Arceus turned his back towards Louise, preparing to send her back, however only one thought passed through Louise's mind.

' _Not worthy? NOT WORTHY!_ ' Louise shook with indignation. How dare this thing, this foreign god, this overgrown GOAT! Tell her she wasn't worthy after all she'd been through! She could not, would not return without a familiar, without proof of being a mage, not after being told the only reason why she wouldn't have proof was become some being decided she didn't deserve it. So, with its back turned, Louise used the one thing she knew she was good at, and aimed at the back of Arceus' head. "Fireball!"

The spell went wide, trailing off into the sky and exploding in the distance, hitting nothing but air. Arceus turned, and faced her in amusement.

"Not worthy!? I am not worthy!? What, am I not good enough!? Is the ridicule and humiliation I went through not 'worthy' enough to gain anything!?" Louise screamed out, even as Arceus levitated her up to its face.

"You are not worthy of it because you didn't earn it. You summoning one of my children would have been cheating. The runes you would have placed upon it could have bent it to your will. You wouldn't have earned its friendship. It would be your slave!" Arceus's voice could have frozen lava, with cracks of anger coming though as he continued, but Louise was unmoved.

"Oh, so if I 'earned' it then there would be no problem!?"

"Correct."

"Well then, what do I have to do to 'earn the privilege' that is my familiar!?"

At this, Arceus went silent as he mulled the situation over, quickly going through the possible futures for the girl in front of him. He could just send her back regardless, but that wouldn't solve the issue at hand, and would also have started her on a very dark path. Finally, after what felt like an age, he spoke.

"You would have to go on a Journey, wher-" Before Arceus could even finish his sentence, Louise interrupted him.

"I'll do it."

"What?"

"I said I'll do it. I don't care what this 'Journey' requires of me, if it means getting my familiar and proving you wrong I'll do anything!"

Arceus went silent for a moment before speaking with degree of finality "Very well. I will give you your chance to prove yourself."

"Of course. Now, send me back to Tristain and I…"

"What made you think that your Journey would be in Tristain? In Halkegenia? Or even in your world?"

At this, Louise's thoughts, for a second time in about…ten minutes? Time seemed different here, but regardless, dread began to build in Louise.

"Wha…. what do you mean?" She asked timidly, slowly realizing that she just agreed to something that she really shouldn't have.

"Your Journey will be in my world, on Earth." Louise almost wanted to ask if the overgrown goat was serious but with one look at its face said it all.

"I didn't agree to that!" Louise yelled out as a white light began to surround her.

"Oh, but you did. 'I don't care what this 'Journey' requires of me, if it means getting my familiar and proving you wrong I'll do anything'," Arceus said in a perfect recreation of her own voice. "I will be monitoring your progress. You have one year to prove yourself to me, after which we will meet again."

"NOW JUST A MINUTE YOU DAMNED GOAT! I DEMA-!" Louise screamed before vanishing in a bright light, leaving Arceus alone once again.

"As noisy as an Exploud." Arceus mused, before a green flash appeared beside Him. "Have you finished exploring?" Arceus asked, quickly noting the concerned expression on her face.

The small green sprite quickly started chattering off a reply. "Yes, and it's not good, not good at all there. A large war is on the verge of breaking out and a big, no, HUGE disaster that is on the way, you remember Shamouti? The oversized birds throwing a temper tantrum? That is NOTHING compared to this! And that's not even mentioning the-"

"I see," Arceus muttered as He quickly processed the information. Apparently, that other world had more problems than he initially thought, and without a reliable way to travel there was not much He could do. Perhaps... "How long can she be gone before the timeline begins to fracture, Celebi?"

Celebi quickly chattered off a reply. "Seven days, maybe, fourteen if we push it. Any more than that and we risk a temporal instability or a cataclysmic spatial collapse or-"

"Very well. Ask Dialga to modify the time dilation. I want a week to have passed, at most, by the time she's done."

"You sure that girl will help things there?" Celebi spoke, looking skeptically at the place where Louise once stood.

"Perhaps, if she proves herself." A short silence fell over the hall before the sprite spoke up.

"Are you sure she's gonna be alright? Getting dropped into a strange world all alone without anyone to help her and only the clothes on her back and-"

"I placed her somewhere she will get the right start to her journey, if she accepts it. I'm not heartless."

Celebi nodded before vanishing in a flash of green light, leaving Arceus alone in the chamber once again.

"Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Vallière. I hope, for your sake, you prove me wrong."

* * *

Hello, everyone! I've previously posted this over on , and I wanted to bring this over here as well. I couldn't have done this without the help of Grendel4823, Firebird Zoom, Catboy41, wildrook, and SwiftRosenthal, who all either helped edit this story or helped to write this. We all hope that you enjoy this story, just as we've enjoyed writing it.

We already have several chapters already posted on the Spacebattles thread, and will be posting each chapter one by one on a daily basis until we catch up. After that, we will be moving to a weekly posting schedule. Please let us know what you think! If you have any questions for us, or simply want to discuss the story, please come on over to Spacebattles over here: threads/outsiders-pokémon-familiar-of-zero-crossover-reverse-summon.621934/#post-44832454.

We hope you all enjoy!


	2. Season 1, Episode 1, Chapter 2

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 1, Chapter 2**

* * *

Over the countless generations since the spell was first invented by the Founder himself, many had wondered what exactly the process of being summoned as a Familiar was like. No human had ever been summoned before and there was no way to tell what happened in transit, until Louise. She traveled though a tunnel of stars, more stars than anyone could ever count. If she focused, Louise could even make out strange creatures moving about that defied logic. Explaining the process that a familiar goes through in a summoning would be a magical breakthrough, if Louise ever made it home - or had been paying attention. Instead, her rage at Arceus and her stomach turning itself inside out ensured that she did anything but.

"-AMAAAAH!" Louise screamed as the wormhole dumped her onto solid and quite hard ground. "Ohhh…" Louise groaned in pain and nausea. As she laid sprawled across the ground, trying to keep the contents of her breakfast safely inside her stomach, she slowly began investigating her surroundings.

It appeared to be an alleyway of some kind, blocked on one end by a fence. To her left and right were two buildings, what appeared to be some strange form of housing, judging by the clotheslines strung across the gap. Next to her were some strange metal canisters with detachable metal lids. Wrinkling her nose at the smell, Louise figured it to be some form of waste container. A glance upward, toward the darkened sky, told her night had fallen, but Louise couldn't make out any stars, just the outlines of clouds faintly illuminated from below. It might rain tonight, based off the sounds of distant thunder she heard.

"Where did that goat-" Louise began, muttering to herself, before the canister made a sound and she jumped to her feet... in hindsight, a bit too quickly, as another wave of nausea hit her. Desperately trying to keep herself from vomiting, she become deathly silent and still as she gave the container her undivided attention. Not a sound could be heard from the alley, excepting the bustling of the townsfolk walking on the street next to her. Louise paid them no heed, as she continued staring at the container.

"Just my imagination," Louise sighed in relief as no other sounds came from the large container. But just as she turned around to get her bearings, the container began to shake and more sounds came out of it. But when Louise turned back around, the can appeared inert and lifeless... and a step closer to Louise than before. Trickles of sweat began to appear on Louise's forehead as she stared at the container, her right-hand edging toward her wand and her left arm crossed in front of her in some makeshift shield.

"Okay, I'm leaving now. Stay where you are," Louise timidly said as she began to back away from the large metal can. Once she got far enough away, she turned around once again, only to hear the telltale sounds of the container shuffling about and the grinding of metal on stone. When Louise turned around again, to her horror the container was now right behind her, with only a few inches separating them. Now frightened, Louise held out her wand towards the container as it began to shake.

"Rule of steel, rule of steel, rule of steel…" Louise chanted to herself, trying to calm herself down. Realizing that whatever was causing the can to move was inside it, Louise shakily reached towards the lid handle while preparing to cast a spell on whatever foul creature lurked within.

"Aaagh!" Louise shouted out as she threw the lid off the container. Only, nothing came out. Steadily, her wand at the ready, she leaned forward to peek inside the dark interior. To her surprise, it was empty. No trash, no creature, nothing was inside. "Hello?" she asked, hoping to not receive an answer. But a question asked deserves an answer, and the darkness melted away to reveal what appeared to be a black and red foxlike creature, small enough to be held. Louise would have thought it to be adorable, if not for the fact that it jumped right at her face right after it materialized.

"Aieee!" Louise shrieked, and turned around and fled to the street. If she had listened, she would have noticed sounds of laughter coming from the alleyway, but she paid them no heed as she ran out of the alley and onto the street. What she found frightened her more than the creature had.

Buildings surrounded her on all sides, larger and more numerous than she had ever seen, with some looking like they scratched the sky itself. The street she was one dwarfed the largest streets of Tristanville, her country's capital city. And the lights! There were enough lights shining that she could see perfectly despite it being nighttime. And there was no smoke coming out, meaning these lights weren't candles! There were more people on this street, commuting and conversing with one another, than she had ever seen in any one place, and she had been at Tristanville's marketplace at the start of the season!

But the greatest shock came when Louise looked up. Gone were her two familiar blue and pink moons. Instead, there was just one large gray moon, alone in a faint sea of stars. Louise no longer doubted her location. She was no longer in Tristain, no longer in Halkegenia, no longer...

"He was telling the truth. I'm on another world…" Louise despaired under her breath as a fresh wave of nausea slammed into her. In a daze, she took a frantic look around for something, anything that looked familiar. After a short search, Louise finally spotted something a short distance away: a bench that faced the street. Granted, it was surrounded by glass, with a piece of metal hanging over it, but it was a rock of familiarity in this alien world. Louise approached it in a daze, idly noting the strange...things that moved along the street in as the back of her mind screamed back at all the noise.

Finally reaching the bench, she quickly slumped down on it, noting that it was made from metal and not wood, and desperately tried to organize her thoughts. What was she supposed to do now? That damn goat never told her. Maybe if she just sat there long enough, the world would start making sense or she would wake up in her bed back at the academy, Louise idly mused, as tears ran down her face.

* * *

Today was one of those days, Professor Augustine Sycamore figured. It started before he even woke up, with the weirdest dream he could ever remember not being able to remember. He could only recall an intense desire to be somewhere at a certain time. Collectors continued to name considerable sums for a Pokémon currently in his care - a much less unusual event, certainly, but at this point it was becoming a daily chore just to turn them away at the front door and refuse all offers. Worst of all, he learned that his current jug of MooMoo milk had gone sour, which, considering it was only a few days old, was just as strange as the dream and far less pleasant to discover. It must have been a bad jug, he thought. Either way, he now had to go out that night to the store, just to get milk. With no buses running this late at night, that meant he had to walk.

Regardless, Augustine couldn't say the task was any great chore. The night air of Lumiose was always enjoyable to walk around in, to hear the joy of people as they lived their lives, to meet with friends new and old, or to smell the sweet aromas of Kalosian cuisine. This trip to the store was uneventful; the capstone of his long day happened on his way back instead.

As Augustine came upon a bus stop, he saw a young woman sitting alone on its bench. Now, that by itself wasn't peculiar. After all, waiting at a bus stop is what people do when they need to catch a bus. But the buses stopped running hours ago, and his confusion began to shift into concern as he got closer and saw that the girl was hunched over and sobbing into her hands. Had Augustine been a lesser man, he would have kept walking, figuring that it was none of his business. Fortunately, he was not a lesser man.

"Are you alright, Miss?" Augustine asked the woman. This seemed to startle her, as she quickly shot upright and turned to face him, the whites of her pink eyes stained red from tears that she hastily wiped from her face. "Ma'am?" Augustine asked again, concern clear in his voice.

"I'm…I'm fine, sir. I just…don't know where I am. I'll be fine," the girl shakily replied. Augustine didn't buy it for a second.

"Mademoiselle, you do know that the buses don't run at night, correct? And it's going to rain soon?"

"I…I'll be fine, sir. I just have to figure things out."

Augustine prided himself on his ability to judge a person's character and background. After all, if he gave a young trainer their Starter, and that person mistreated their new Pokémon, he'd blame himself for putting the creature into that environment. Looking at this girl... the clothes she wore looked expensive and like some private school uniforms he'd seen, telling him that the girl came from wealth and was a student at some academy. Which one, he couldn't determine, as the uniform was not like anything he had ever seen. With the brooch and what appeared to be some form of wand she was holding, Augustine figured her to be a fan of the occult, something that wasn't uncommon. Judging by her responses, he figured that she was a runaway and didn't know what to do. He, however, did.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Augustine asked her. She looked at him in surprise before nodding in affirmation, upon which he sat down on the other side of the bench. "What is your name?"

"My…my name?" The girl replied, surprise and confusion ringing loud and clear for Augustine to hear.

"Your name. I want to know your name." When she didn't respond, Augustine continued. "I am Professor Augustine Sycamore. What is yours?"

At the mention of the 'Professor', the girl seemed to perk up a bit. "A Professor?" She asked him, hope finally beginning to sound in her voice.

"Yes. I am the head of the Kalos Pokémon Research Lab here in Lumiose. I specialize in the study of Mega Evolution and how Pokémon change."

"I…I don't know what any of that means." Now Augustine was the one who was confused. What did she mean by that? Before he could voice his confusion, the girl continued, now seemingly feeling better and more secure. "I am Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Vallière. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Professor."

"I… I'm happy to make your acquaintance too, Miss Vallière. Now, what did you mean when-" Lightning flashed in the distance and thunder sounded soon after. The rain would be here soon, and neither of them were equipped to handle the weather. Dropping his question for now, Augustine continued. "We have to get out of the rain. Do you have a place to stay tonight?"

Louise hesitated before shamefully shaking her head. That was a problem, he noted. With how bad things were getting, Louise could get sick or worse without any shelter. With that in mind, Augustine made a decision. "Okay, my lab is close by. You can stay there for the night. Is that alright with you, Miss Vallière?"

"You're…what? Why? We don't even know each other?" Louise asked, surprise clearly in her voice.

"Because the closest Pokémon Center is five kilometers down the road while my lab is only one, and it looks like the rain is going to start any minute now, and I am not about to let a young woman like yourself stay out in the rain. That, and mostly because it is the right thing to do." Left unsaid was the feeling of pity that formed in Augustine's heart for Louise.

Louise was shocked at Professor Sycamore's kindness. After all, they'd only known each other for merely a few minutes and now he was offering his home to her for the night. But in her situation, both with the botched summoning and the oncoming rain, she would take any relief she would get.

"Alright, Professor Sycamore. Founder bless you for your generosity. I won't forget it." Louise knew that the Professor wouldn't know who the Founder was, but that didn't mean the meaning would get across, which judging by the look on his face was clearly received.

"Thank you, Miss Vallière. Let's hurry, before the rain starts hitting too hard."

Unfortunately, halfway to the Lab, the rain hit full force in a raging storm. Louise was now even more thankful for the professor's offer, as she would have been even worse had she stayed at the covered bench. But now, after reaching the lab entrance, she could finally escape the rain, and did just that once Sycamore got the doors open. Stepping through the threshold, she took stock of the lab itself. It appeared to be full funded, filled with strange tools and devices that she couldn't even fathom the use for.

"Well, that was a trip. You stay right there while I get us some towels to dry ourselves off with. Would you like some hot cocoa?" Professor Sycamore asked, snapping Louise out of her investigation of some darkened mirror attacked to some strange box with letters on a board.

"Oh, yes thank you. What's hot coc-" Louise started to answer Sycamore until she was interrupted by the arrival of something else. Louise stood in silent horror as a large bipedal creature entered the room. It looked like a shark had grown legs and arms and had begun to walk on dry land, with razor sharp fangs and claws on its body. And it was rapidly heading towards the professor, whose back was turned towards the creature. Louise couldn't let the monster harm the man who had helped her, so she dived towards the professor, knocking him out of the way of the creature, and aimed her wand forward and cast a spell, shouting "Fireball!" Luckily it the spell hit head on, mostly due to the range, and sent the thing though a nearby wall.

"It's okay, Professor! I got this, you-!" Louise started, intending to get the kind man to safety. But to her surprise, that is not what happened.

"Garchomp!" Sycamore yelled out in concern and ran toward, rather than away from the fallen creature, apparently called Garchomp. The creature, however, had managed to push itself off the ground before the professor reached it and, much faster then what Louise thought possible, stepped between her and the professor and proceeded to give her a look and stance that looked like a combination of trying to judge if she was a threat or not as well as trying to figure out what the hell had happened. At this point, Louise realized her mistake and tried to move to a table so she could set her wand down, but a deep growl that emanated from its throat immediately rooted her to the floor, leaving her to silently pray that the professor would not kick her back out into the rain for attempting to kill his guard do-SHARK.

Luckily, that did not seem to be the case. "It's okay, Garchomp, she's a friend," Sycamore said, quickly stepping out from behind it and patting it on the arm in what Louise hoped was a soothing motion.

The guard shark gave him a sidelong look, pointedly keeping one eye on her, and let lose a strange combination of growls and snarls. Louise noted that it did not sound nearly as an aggressive as earlier, as it seemed to converse with the professor.

"Yes I knew she was there, her name is Louise and she's just a traveler who needs some help," the professor continued to placate the Guard Shark, as it continued to eye an increasingly panicking Louise before finally nodding, causing Louise to release a breath she was holding since she first saw the Garchomp.

"Could you get us some towels, so we can dry off while I get us something to eat?" The professor asked, as he assessed the damaged wall that Garchomp flew through. He quickly received what sounded almost conversational type of reply as Garchomp lumbered back into the darkness.

"Yes, I will be sure to get some Sitrus Berries and fish out," He called back out into the darkness and turned back around to Louise "Come on, it will take him some time to get the towels. Let's get something to eat while we wait."

"I'm sorry about shoving you aside, and for destroying the wall, and-" Louise quickly loosed a stream of apologies before she was quickly cut off.

"Think nothing of it," Sycamore gave her a reassuring smile as he lead her too what she assumed was the kitchen "I'm used to the wall needing repairs and I've had worse conversation starters. Although, I must ask, how DID you do that?"

* * *

Louise had quite the eventful day, and at this point she can say without question that it would rank up among the worst days of her life. There were only two mitigating factors so far that prevented it from becoming the absolute worst day of her life. One, Professor Sycamore was a kind and understanding man who realized quickly that Louise made a mistake and was only trying to protect him from what she perceived to be a threat. Garchomp wasn't as forgiving, as it was still giving Louise the stink eye as it ate from a bowl of berries and fish from the other side of the room. The other, most important reason? Louise had discovered what hot cocoa was. By the time she had finished explaining everything to Sycamore, her magic, where she came from, her botched summoning and her 'chat' with Arceus, which itself took about thirty minutes, she was already finishing her sixth cup.

"...Where I found you. Did I leave anything out?"

Louise could tell that Professor Sycamore had trouble believing what she was saying and meekly replied after taking another sip from what was her seventh cup of hot cocoa. "You forgot one affinity, Void, which not only hasn't been seen in six thousand years but, according to Arceus, is my actual affinity, the haunted bin that was possessed by a demonic creature aaa-" Louise interrupted herself as a yawn tore its way out of her mouth "-nnnddd the large, talking, self-centered goat with a god complex."

"Ah, yes. Can't forget about all of that." Sycamore replied as he got off the couch and walked over to a nearby window, looking out onto the city streets, running his hand through his hair.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Louise whispered, dejection heard in her voice.

"I'll admit, it's a little hard to believe. Magic, dimensional travel, meeting Arceus himself in the Hall of Origin. It's a lot to take in all at once."

At this, Louise began to retreat inward. Who knew what would happen now. She began to fear the worst when Sycamore began to speak again. "But I think I do."

"You do!?" Louise exclaimed in surprise and joy, while Garchomp growled out the same only in confusion.

"Yes, I do. First, it is obvious that you can do magic, judging by the hole in my wall. And before you apologize for the tenth time, it's fine. You be surprised how often that happens around here and Garchomp wasn't injured. Second, other dimensions aren't unknown to us. Based on the description you gave me about your transit, I can narrow it down to a few places but I would need to run some tests to be for sure, if that is alright with you?" Louise nodded in affirmation, upon which Sycamore continued. "Third, you were able to describe Arceus quite accurately to the legend without any prior knowledge of it. Finally, just to make sure, you don't know what Pokémon are, do you?"

At Sycamore's expectant look, Louise hesitated a moment before responding. "No, Professor. Am I correct in assuming that Garchomp over there is a Pokémon? If so, he is a fine specimen." At this, Garchomp began to look offended as Sycamore laughed.

"Hah, you are half right. Garchomp is a Pokémon, specifically a Garchomp. And she is a girl."

Louise began to look back and forth at Garchomp and Sycamore at this statement several times before focusing on Sycamore again. "You…named a Garchomp 'Garchomp'?"

Sycamore chuckled to himself before answering "I admit, not the most creative of names, but not all trainers like to nickname their Pokémon. And Garchomp doesn't mind, do you girl?" At this, Garchomp growled in what seemed to be affirmation.

Louise, not quite gotten over the lack of proper naming, decided to move on. "You said that Garchomp is a Pokémon, specifically a Garchomp. Does that mean that there are multiple different species of Pokémon?"

"Yes, that is correct. As of right now, there are over 802 registered species of Pokémon, scattered across the world. Most are in Regions, which would be our equivalent to your world's kingdoms. Specifically, you are in Lumiose City, the capital and largest city of the Kalos Region, which itself is home to over 450 individual Pokémon species."

"That's quite a lot…" Louise muttered as she tried to wrap her head around the idea of there being that many different Pokémon.

"Yes, and more are discovered every day. That being said, many of those species are merely Evolutions from another species."

"Evolution?" Louise questioned as she finished off her cup of cocoa.

"Ah, I figured you wouldn't know what that was. Evolution is a process that many Pokémon go through, once they reach certain criteria. It could be physical strength, the strength of their bond with their trainer, whether it be through friendship or affection, the use of specialized Evolution Stones, and many more. Some even evolve when in proximity to other Pokémon species or depending on the time of day, and others still only evolve after trading, with some needing to be holding a specialized item during the exchange." At this, Sycamore gestured towards the large land shark, who was still keeping a close eye on the rosette but seemed to perk up at the attention.

"Garchomp over here started off as a Gible, for example, before evolving into a Gabite, then finally into a Garchomp," At this, Sycamore pulled out a strange red device with a black sheet of glass in the middle, which to Louise's surprise lit up and displayed an image of a small shark like creature, only stubby and not quite as threatening looking, but it was still a shark with legs. Louise gazed upon it in wonder as Sycamore began to talk again. "This is called a Pokédex. It's a handheld encyclopedia containing information about all species of Pokémon. The image on the screen is a picture of a Gible, the first stage of Garchomp."

"Wow…" Louise breathed out in amazement, suppressing another yawn that was trying too bubble out. "Are all the creatures on this world Pokémon?"

"No, not all. We do have non-Pokémon species of animal. Most are domesticated, however, and raised for food such as cows, chickens and fish. A few people do like to eat Pokémon, but that's rare nowadays, especially after the decimation of the Far'Fetched species."

This information was astounding to Louise, as her curiosity slowly began to eat away at the toils of the day. "So, Arceus is a Pokémon, too?"

"Arceus is what we would call a Legendary Pokémon, specifically a Mythical Pokémon, Legendaries so rare they are thought of only as myths. Before you, I have only meet three other people who claimed they saw him and two of them were drunk at the time." Sycamore lightly smiled at the memory "According to legend, Arceus created the world and all its inhabitants."

"So that's why he called himself the 'Original One'…"

"Few others would be able to make such a claim, much less be able to back it up. Anyways, back to your story. You mentioned Arceus wanted you to go on a journey to prove your 'worth' to him. Do you know what it is he wants you to do?"

At this, Louise became silent. She still, even now, didn't know what Arceus expected of her. What did he mean by 'prove her worth'? By 'going on a journey'? How was she supposed to do that?

"I…I don't know." Louise muttered. "I don't know what to do…"

At this, Sycamore sighed to himself and began to think, bringing his hand to his chin. "Arceus gave you a year to prove yourself, correct?"

"I…yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"It means you have time to figure it out."

"Well, what am I supposed to do until then?!" Louise exclaimed, irritation at her situation as well as exhaustion from the day beginning to be heard in her voice. Before she could apologize, Sycamore spoke up again.

"You can stay with me, here in the lab."

Louise was shocked into silence, which lasted for a few moments before she worked up the courage to speak back up, albeit only able to do so in a whisper. "What?"

"I said you can stay here with me."

"Why?"

"Because you need the help." At this, Sycamore smiled at Louise, whose eyes began to water.

"I…thank you, Professor! If there is anything I can do to help, just ask!" Louise exclaimed in joy as she practically leapt up from her chair before realizing her mistake and sitting back down again in embarrassment, to which Sycamore merely laughed.

"I don't need anything from you, Louise, but if you want to help I won't stop you. Come on, I'll show you to the guest room."

At this, Sycamore held his hand out to Louise, who, after a moment's hesitation, reached out and grabbed it.

* * *

Hey, everyone! As promised, here is Episode 1, Chapter 1, Chapter 2!

Thank you for the support. It means a lot to all of us. You may have noticed that I've updated the Cover Image. That is an artwork by Renu commissioned by Ridli Scott. Big thanks to both of them for the amazing piece.


	3. Season 1, Episode 1, Chapter 3

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 1, Chapter 3**

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Louise had arrived in Sycamore's lab and she already found herself with plenty of things to occupy her time. She always prided herself in her academic performance. After all, it was the only part of Academy life she excelled at. Here in the lab, it was no different. Already a naturally curious person, that curiosity exploded forth in Louise's new situation and when she wasn't being Sycamore's assistant, she learned everything she could about the world she was in.

This led Louise to make a few discoveries for herself. For starters, Louise figured out that when Sycamore told her about Pokémon, he left out details, if only to avoid overwhelming her. Namely, he left out the concepts of Types, Moves, Stats, Abilities, and Egg Groups. Types, as Louise discovered, were part of the classification for Pokémon. There were 18 Types in total, much like the Elements known to her world, only much more specialized and diverse. Normal types, Louise figured, were the closest to her world's regular animals. Fire type Pokémon had a close affinity to fire itself and could survive extremely hot conditions and even use Fire as part of their defense. Water type Pokémon lived in or around water. Grass type Pokémon seemed to have a symbiotic relationship with plants and were often some sort of plant-animal hybrid. There were many more, each stranger than the last. Some Pokémon appeared to be living rocks or pieces of metal!

Moves were another concept that Sycamore left out. Louise discovered them to be a simple enough concept to grasp. Moves were simply the names given to the specialized offensive and defensive techniques that Pokémon used. Some moves were stronger than others. Usually, however, the more powerful moves weaken the user. They were also tied to Stats, which were official numbers used and calculated to determine a Pokémon's strength. They were developed several decades prior by Professor Samuel Oak in the Kanto Region to help better understand Pokémon. Abilities were self-explanatory. They were the scientific community's terms for the natural traits that affected every Pokémon's powers, whether it prevented them from ever falling asleep or simply boosted the strength of their moves in a last minute second wind.

The one concept Louise still did not get were Egg Groups. Apparently, Pokémon of different species could often interbreed with one another to produce viable offspring. That she could understand, after all she had experience with mules, which themselves are the offspring of horses and donkeys. But, mules were sterile, which meant that when she read that the offspring of Pokémon from different species could then go on to produce viable offspring themselves, it caused Louise a great deal of confusion. Did that mean that the species of Pokémon weren't different species but rather separate breeds of the same species? Was each Pokémon a sub-species of some progenitor species?

There were, however, some embarrassments in her pursuit of knowledge. When she discovered the light switch, she spent about a minute simply flipping it on and off. And when the TV, as she later learned it was called, was first turned on, she hid behind a couch in fright. She was lucky Sycamore wasn't in the room when that happened, and she would take that secret to her grave. But for the most part, Louise enjoyed her time in Sycamore's lab. She was learning new things, about Pokémon and modern technology, knowledge that she planned to take back with her to Tristain.

Louise reminded herself of all this as she walked into Sycamore's office.

"I swear, for such an intelligent man, he cannot keep a place clean to save his life," Louise sighed in annoyance as she gazed upon the room. Sycamore had asked her to retrieve some documents from the room in question, and upon reaching the room Louise had to ask herself: How can anyone find anything in this mess? What with stacks of paper everywhere, some almost reaching the ceiling, books just scattered all over the ground, what appeared to be coffee stains on the main desk - a substance Louise tried and discovered to be a foul, bitter beverage that paled to the glory that was hot cocoa. Of interest was a small red and white ball on the desk, placed on some sort of stand. Louise figured it was some sort of trophy.

Unfortunately, Sycamore didn't have a maid and she couldn't ask her host to clean up his room, not to mention he was currently in a call with someone named Burnet over in someplace called Alola, so Louise sighed in resignation and began to clean the room herself. She reorganized the books on the ground, placed the stacks of paper in appropriate folders, and even began to dust the floor. During that time, she found what she was originally looking for, but by then she had already gotten some headway into cleaning the room and Louise hated quitting on something she started. Finally, she moved on to the desk itself.

"This is commoner's work…" Louise grumbled as she worked to remove a particularly tough coffee stain. It must have been there for quite some time, given how difficult it was to remove. This caused her to triple her efforts, if just remove the cursed stain and finally give Sycamore his paper more than an hour after he asked for it. Unfortunately, she worked a bit too hard and accidentally knocked the ball to the ground.

"No, no, no, no, come back here!" Louise yelled out as she crawled after the ball, which began rolling around on the hardwood floor. Finally, after a few seconds of desperate crawling, she managed to grab the ball, to which she sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank the Founder. Okay, let's make sure you aren't damaged…" Louise muttered to herself as she began to inspect the ball. Luckily, it appeared that the ball itself was very well made and highly durable, as there were no scratches or dents to be found. As Louise sighed in relief, she accidentally pushed a small button somewhere on the ball, causing it to simultaneously open and emitted a bright, almost liquid form of energy that erupted out of the ball, causing Louise to drop the ball in surprise, and coalesced in front of her, which solidified into a small Pokémon.

The creature itself looked like a fox, based off its overall body type and ears. It had larges tufts of fur coming out of its ears and a short, fluffy tail, with the ear tufts and tip of the tail being maroon in color and a purplish-grey coat.

"What the…" Louise wondered aloud as she and the fox gazed upon each other in confusion. Before Louise could do anything else, the fox had jumped back slightly and hunched itself down and began to growl, causing Louise to yelp and flinch backward.

Louise quickly decided to get the fox back inside the ball, as the professor had it in there for a reason. After a quick look around, Louise managed to locate where the strange ball had landed. Unfortunately, it was close to where the fox currently stood, leering at her.

She quickly threw out her first plan, just approaching the ball from a different angle, as soon as she took a step forward. The fox growled again, causing Louise to immediately take a step back.

Risking a quick look around, Louise spotted a few cubes that were sitting on the desk, which Sycamore told her were treats for the various kinds of Pokémon, and reasoned that they had to be for the creature before her.

Taking a few steps back, much to the visible confusion to the Pokémon in front of her, Louise hastily grabbed the blocks and threw them off to one side hoping the creature would go after them.

The flat look she received from the fox would had said a thousand words, none of them pleasant.

Louise's cheeks flushed with embarrassment as the fox continued to look at her. She quickly ran though her other options of moving the creature when it interrupted her thoughts by yelping out what sounded almost like a question, nodding its head in the direction she threw the cubes.

At that point, Louise remembered something the professor had told her yesterday. Despite their appearances, Pokémon were as intelligent as humans and could understand them. Judging from the look the fox was giving her, that bit of information was quite obviously true.

"I was trying to get you to move so I could get to that ball to your left!" The fox followed her finger and apparently noticed for the first time the nearby ball and quickly looked back at her with a confused yelp and expression.

"Yes, that's what this is about! I didn't mean to release you from that thing, why would I want to let you out?"

The fox looked like it was about to reply but cut itself off and after a brief period of silence it causally swatted the ball back toward her.

"Thank you," Louise breathed out as she carefully picked the strange device up and began looking over it noticing several "buttons" positioned at different locations around it. Her investigations were interrupted by a yelp as the fox looked up at her with suspicion in its eyes.

Louise narrowed her eyes as she glared at the fox in front of her. "Yes, yes, I'm getting to it." as she pointed the ball's front at the fox and pressed a button at random.

Louise didn't know what 'returning' a Pokémon looked like, but she didn't think it involved the ball just opening and revealing the inner workings of it. Louise quickly clamped it shut and quickly pressed the next closest one. Unfortunately, all that one did was cause the ball too to shrink in her hand.

Growling in annoyance she repressed the button causing the ball to grow back to its original size and heard the fox making a barking like noise that sounded almost like laughing.

"Oh, shut up," she said, as the embarrassment from earlier crawled back. The next button she tried was finally the right one, sending out a red beam that hit the still grinning fox and made it disappear.

Sighing in relief, she carefully placed the ball back on the stand and quickly grabbed the paper that she sat on the desk earlier - something about a place called Ultra Space, written by a Professor Mohn - and turned to leave the room, when she noticed Sycamore standing in the doorway.

"Oh uh...How long were you standing there?"

"Right after you threw the Pokéblocks to distract Fennekin." Louise was about to stammer out several apologies when a smile crossed Sycamore's face. "It's alright. Usually though, it's a better idea to talk to a Pokémon first instead of trying to get what you want with treats."

"You're not mad?" Louise questioned, although in the back of her mind she already knew the answer. It seemed impossible for Sycamore to get upset about anything that might happen.

"About what? There's nothing wrong with letting a Pokémon out of their ball. In fact, it's good for their health and lets them stretch their legs. When we get back, we can look at some of the others around the lab." Sycamore smiled as he led her out of the room. The encounter with the Fennekin, as it was apparently called, remained fresh on Louise's mind.

* * *

Shortly after her encounter with the grey Fennekin, Sycamore introduced her to the other Fennekins at the lab - six total, including the one she had previously met. To her surprise, the other Fennekins were all yellow, not purple. When Louise asked Sycamore as to why that is, he explained to her that the Fennekin she had met in his office was a 'Shiny' Pokémon, which confused her, as the grey Fennekin wasn't shiny at all. After further exploration, she learned it referred to the sparkling effect the Shiny Pokémon give out when they are released from a Pokéball. Apparently, some Pokémon, when they hatch from their eggs, are born with a different coloration than other members of their species. Given the aforementioned sparkling, people thought that off-colored Pokémon 'shone,' so the term 'Shiny' stuck.

A few days later, Sycamore brought Louise to the lab's garden to introduce her to more of the different types of Pokémon.

"In here are a few Fennekins, Chespins, and Froakies in here, along with a pair of Whismurs a trainer brought in. There also is a Purrloin in here...somewhere. There are also a few more in the Pokéballs over on the table, but for now I just want you to get familiar with the ones that are already out." Sycamore pointed to each breed as he listed them off, although he had apparently lost track the Purrloin.

"So what exactly do you want me to do?" Louise asked, as she already curiously eyeing the strange pink puffballs that seemed to be quietly conversing with each other.

"Just get some Pokéfood out for them and make sure they don't start any serious fights. Don't worry, though. They're easy going. Just get to know them." Sycamore explained as he pulled out a big bag, that was apparently the Pokéfood, and a selection of bowls.

"I have some things I need to do. If there are any problems I will be in my office." Sycamore added as he walked out of the room, leaving her alone with the strange array of creatures as they started eyeing the strange girl in front of them.

Taking a few nervous breaths, Louise started filling up the bowls with the brown 'food' from the bag. She didn't think it looked appetizing, but the first Pokémon that approached, a Chespin, seemed to enjoy it.

The next two to approach were a pair of Fennekins, two of the odd-colored ones with yellow fur and red highlights instead of purple-and-maroon. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when the two oddly colored ones started growling at the one she met earlier as it cautiously approached.

"Hey, stop it," Louise admonished the pair as she prepared another bowl for the last one. The pair suddenly turned on her and started leering and growling at her.

Louise was not amused by their antics and quickly narrowed her eyes. "Well if that's how you're going to be... Come on Brennaraki!" Louise addressed the purple one, which she now noticed was slightly smaller than the other two and stood sharply up with the current bowl and started walking off. The purple one, after figuring out that Louise had addressed her, followed with a curious look in its eyes.

After a short distance, Louise placed the bowl under the shade of one the garden plants, snapping off a twig and placing it in the bowl, just as the purple fox arrived. "There you go, let me know if Snarl and Growley back there start giving you problems again." Before Louise could return to the bag, the Fennekin stopped her with a yelp. Upon turning around, Louise noticed it was giving her a questioning look, as if asking why she did that.

"Because they were being brats. What's their problem, anyways?" Louise knew she wouldn't be able to get a direct answer from the Fennekin, but just from the look she gave her, she had a good idea. "Anyways, I need to get back before Snarl and Growley start acting like a bunch of pigs and start eating out of the bag. Take care, Brennaraki."

The Fennekin yelped another question in response. "Well I can't just keep calling you Fennekin." Louise replied with a huff. "And Brennaraki seems like a fitting name. Where I come from, it means 'Firefox,' which suits you, I think."

The newly dubbed Brennaraki looked like it was about to ask something else when a crash of something breaking sounded off from the direction of the other Pokémon. Hurrying back to the main area, Louise noticed that a cat had jumped up onto a table and accidentally knocked a glass onto the floor. More pressingly, she saw that the Whismurs looked like they were about to cry.

"Oh nonononono, it's ok. See? It was just a glass. Nothing to get upset about." Louise started trying to placate the puffballs, barely noticing that some music was playing from somewhere, and quickly delivered a bowl of food to them and some treats that Sycamore had left out.

The Whismurs just about settled back down when Louise heard what sounded like a Pokéball activating. Swinging her head around, she found that one of the balls from the table had activated and released a... _something_ from the ball. It had some weird plant on its head and a duck like bill as a mouth and was covered in yellow fur. As it opened its eyes, it registered the music that was playing, causing its eyes to light up. It proceeded to raise one if its legs and released a loud noise from its mouth.

And then all hell broke loose.

* * *

Sycamore put his examination of a chunk of rock, which he highly suspected was Beedrillite, on hold when he heard a scratching sound at his door and some muted barking. He took a quick stretch and got up from his current project. "One of the Pokémon must have left the garden and gotten lost," Sycamore muttered to Garchomp, who gave a quick nod in return. Proceeding to the door and opening it, Sycamore looked down to see the Shiny Fennekin give a bunch of concerned yelps and anxiously look back in the direction of the garden.

Concern crossing his face, Sycamore and Garchomp started running - the building's interiors neither wide nor tall enough for Garchomp to safely fly - with the concerned Shiny Fennekin hot on their heels and quickly entered a full sprint as he heard the unmistakable noise of a group of Whismurs crying. When he arrived, the first thing he noticed were the pair of Whismurs that were crying, apparently due to the Ludicolo nearby, itself dancing in tune to the music playing from the speakers around the gardens. Next were a Chespin and a Froakie currently fighting other next to the large bag of food that had been knocked over, with the other Pokémon watching from some ways back. Off in the distance was Louise, as a Duskull and a Gastly chased her screaming form around the garden.

It was times like this that Sycamore especially appreciated having Garchomp with him. The dragon entered the room and, after taking a single look around, released a loud and deafening roar to drown out the chaos, silencing everyone but Louise and the Whismurs.

Quickly, Louise ran toward Sycamore and immediately started talking in a rush. "Ohthankthefounderyou'rehereIdon'tknowwhathappenedtherewasthatthingan-"

Sycamore quickly raised his hands "Louise, slow down. I can't understand what you're saying. Just stop and breathe for a moment."

After taking a few steadying breaths, Louise started again with visible tears in her eyes. "I, I just don't know what happened! First that thing somehow got out of its Pokéball, then those Whismurs started crying, then-" Sycamore raised his hand again, trying to calm her down. Looking at the desk that held the Pokéballs, he quickly spotted the culprit, currently grooming itself.

"Purrloin?" Sycamore called out to the cat in a firm voice as it looked up and gave a questioning look. "Don't give me that. Did you start all of this?" Sycamore waved his hand around the mess the room was in.

The Purrloin gave an innocent sounding meow that failed to fool anyone, including the enraged pinkette. "WHY- YOU DAMNED CAT! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU-!" Louise all but screamed as she started stomping toward the Purrloin, which quickly figured out that its charm was not going to get it out of this one and ran off into the gardens.

"YOU DAMNED FLEA BITTEN- GET BACK HERE!" Louise quickly ran after the Purrloin though the gardens. Sycamore sighed and brought his hands up to message his forehead. After looking around to make sure that all the Pokémon were accounted for, he noticed that the Shiny Fennekin had disappeared into the underbrush, apparently in pursuit of the troublesome Purrloin, and the Professor gave a weak smile. Perhaps this bonding session was not a complete failure after all.

* * *

Three days later, and fortunately the next few visits to the garden were far calmer, with Sycamore's presence and Garchomp to keep the other Pokémon in line, Louise finally asked a question that had been bothering her.

"Professor Sycamore, is something wrong with Brennaraki?" Louise queried after giving up on her pursuit of the Purrloin.

Sycamore paused a moment, before starting, "Brennaraki? Oh, the Shiny Fennekin. Well, 'Brennaraki' is—"

"Hellooo~!" a feminine voice cried out, cutting off the professor.

Sycamore and Louise both turned towards the exit of the garden. Sycamore kept going, running towards the front entrance of the lab, as he let out a string of curses in what sounded to Louise like a highly accented dialect of Gallian.

Louise stood there blinking for a moment in recognition and shock, wondering just what could have elicited such a reaction from the normally calm man, but she was broken out of her stupor by a loud crash followed by more loud cursing.

Sighing, Louise followed in the wake of the professor.

When she made it down to the entry hall, she witnessed the odd sight of Sycamore trying to push a young woman, her green hair styled into what appeared to be drills, out of the doorway.

"But Augustine, you haven't even heard my offer yet!" the young woman said.

"I already said no," Sycamore replied, before launching into a string of curses that would probably make Louise's father blanch, and in description of the green-haired woman, no less.

Something that could generously be called a strangled croak escaped from Louise's mouth as she processed what she just heard. Sycamore turned to her, his face going pale as he realized that the apparent pre-teen didn't just know ancient Kalosian, but had heard, and more importantly understood, exactly what he had called the verdette.

That very verdette took the opportunity to unbalance the stunned professor and enter the lab. At this point, Louise was able to finally get a good look at the young woman. She appeared to be slightly older than Louise, no more than 17 in age. Her skin was a warm beige in color, darker than Louise's pale white but not like the reddish-bronze of Kirche back home. Her eyes were obscured by a pair of dark-lensed glasses framed with fine jewels, setting a pattern for the rest of her outfit. The woman's dress looked expensive, its white filigree interlacing with a deep navy blue. Her sunhat was the same color as her dress, with a few white flowers tucked inside the band. To Louise's frustration, the woman was noticeably more…developed than she herself was, albeit, again, not to the same extreme as Kirche.

"Augustine, I didn't know you had an assistant, much less a child," the woman said as she approached Louise, taking off her sunglasses to reveal her deep maroon eyes. Louise shook with indignation in response. How dare this woman call her a child!

"That's because I didn't have one until earlier this week, and she's not a child. Louise is-" Sycamore began as he picked himself off the floor, but Louise spoke up before he could voice his guess.

"Sixteen," Louise stated in defiance.

"Huh," the woman said upon hearing Louise's actual age. She turned away from the professor and crouched slightly, bringing herself down to eye-level with the shorter girl. The verdette took a lock of Louise's hair in her hand and ran it through her fingers a few times, then grabbed one of her own ringlets and did the same.

"I don't know how you manage it," Elizabeth said with some fondness as she stood up, "but good on you for keeping your hair so clean and soft in a place like this."

Louise took a few steps back, unsettled by something she saw in Elizabeth's maroon eyes. Her indignation quickly turned to discomfort.

Sensing Louise's trouble, the professor spoke up once more. "Now if you'd mind leaving my lab, Miss Elizabeth?" So that was her name!

"As I've said before," Elizabeth said, moving over to Sycamore, "money is not an object for me. Name your price and I'll meet or exceed it."

"And as I've said both times you've tried to purchase her: Fennekin. Is. Not. For. Sale," Sycamore replied, pounding his fist in to his open palm for emphasis.

"Every man has his price, Augustine," Elizabeth said as she stopped directly in front of the professor, "Tell me, what is yours?"

Sycamore stood his ground. "I don't care who you or your parents are, I am NOT going back on my word!"

"We'll see about that," she said, slipping by Sycamore's fluttering lab coat, "We'll see about that."

Elizabeth exited the lab, picking up her parasol and putting her dark glasses back on.

"I'll be back in a week to see if you've changed your mind," she said in a parting comment, and then she was gone.

Sycamore sighed, then turned to face Louise who promptly slapped him across the face.

"How dare you disgrace my language with your foul words! You should be ashamed!" Louise scolded Sycamore, her finger accusingly pointing at Sycamore, who was busy rubbing his reddened cheek.

"Man, you slap hard…You know, I probably deserved that. No one had ever caught that, befo-" Sycamore started before Louise slapped him again.

"You've done this before!?"

"Ow! Okay, yes, I have."

"Where'd you even learn Gallian?"

"Gallian? That was… Ohhh, that explains it," Sycamore nodded his head in understanding, before continuing. "I was speaking Old Kalosian, the ancient language of Kalos from long before Unovan became the most spoken language on Earth. I did not anticipate that Halkegenia's Gallian was similar. What was the name of your world, again?"

"Terre, and you are dodging the question. Why do you know Gallian or 'Old Kalosian'?"

"I learned it so I could curse out the parents of annoying children without them knowing."

The lab was silent as Louise and Sycamore stared at one another, Louise in shock at Sycamore's base reason for learning an ancient language and Sycamore in anticipation of Louise slapping him again. To his relief, Louise merely closed her eyes and took a deep breath, calming herself down, before continuing.

"Okay, okay," frustration was clearly audible in Louise's voice, but to her credit she moved past it. "Moving on, what was that all about? Who is Elizabeth?"

At this, Sycamore sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "That was Miss Elizabeth Colette, only daughter of the very wealthy Colette family. They are one of, if not the, richest people in Kalos. As for Miss Elizabeth, she is a Collector."

"And what is a Collector?" Louise inquired, a sinking feeling beginning to form in her stomach.

"A Collector," Sycamore answered, "is a person that collects Pokémon - the rarer, the better. Elizabeth has been trying to purchase that shiny Fennekin you met earlier for quite some time now."

"What is so special about Brennaraki? Why go to so much trouble for one Pokémon?" Disgust had formed in Louise at this point. By the sounds of things, this Elizabeth saw Pokémon not as living creatures, but as things, living trophies to be placed on a shelf. Not even Familiars were like that.

"This was the question you were trying to ask before Elizabeth arrived, isn't it?" Louise nodded, so Sycamore continued. "It's for a variety of reasons. For starters, Fennekins are particularly rare. In fact, you are unlikely to find one in the wild."

"Why?"

"A Fennekin is what is called a Starter Pokémon, specifically Kalos' Fire Starter. Starter Pokémon are officially recognized to be roughly equal in strength to one another. They evolve at the same time and their species' base stats are equivalent, not to mention being easy to train. As such, they proved to be desirable as beginning trainers' first Pokémon, hence the term. There are three per region, one of Fire, one of Water, and one of Grass, forming a sort of elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors between them. Fire beats Grass, Grass beats Water, and Water beats Fire."

"Okay, that explains why Brennaraki is important, but not its rarity."

"Due to their desirability, Starter Pokémon are regulated by the Pokémon Leagues. Only authorized Breeders can sell them to registered handlers, of which I am one. As such, you can only get a Fennekin from people like me. But that isn't the only reason. That Fennekin, Brennaraki as you've named it, is a girl."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Starter Pokémon have one of the largest gender ratio differences in the Pokémon world. Only roughly one-in-eight of all Starter Pokémon are female, making Brennaraki even more desirable. Combined both of those with its status as a Shiny, and you already know how rare that is, makes that Fennekin highly desirable to collectors. I've been fighting them off for weeks," Sycamore said, frustration beginning to leak into his voice.

"Okay, so what is the problem? It seemed like these collectors are willing to pay, quite handsomely in fact. Why not accept their offer?"

"Because that's not what she wants!" Sycamore yelled out, causing Louise to step back in surprise. "Sorry. Brennaraki doesn't want to go with a collector. These collectors would only see her as a trophy to hoard. At best, she would be pampered in a gilded cage when all she wants is to be a fighter. She wants to battle, not become a showpiece. She wants to prove her worth as a Fennekin. Every person who was walked through that door trying to get Brennaraki would not provide what she wanted, so I have refused every single offer."

Louise was silent at this point. After a few precious moments, she continued, "Then, what about the other Fennekins. They don't anything to do with her. Why?"

"Two reasons. One, Brennaraki is the runt of the litter. Already, this placed it low on the totem pole, especially as it is weaker than its siblings. Two, with her around, none of the other Fennekin have been given to trainers, causing resentment. It could have gone with Elizabeth, or any other collector, but it would have been placed in a position its pride wouldn't let it. It has refused every offer so far, as have I."

At this, Louise turned back to face Brennaraki who was now looking at them both through the garden entryway. Her heart burned with sympathy for the small creature, as Louise, before arriving in Lumiose, was put in the exact same position.

"I… I know what that feels like. Had I failed my summoning, I would have met that fate and been married off to some noble. My life would have been comfortable, but I would have been a failure as a mage," Louise whispered, which caused Brennaraki's ears to perk up in surprise.

"You would, wouldn't you?" Sycamore asked to himself in contemplation, before shaking his head and moving on. "In any case, I have a project that needs to be done by morning. I hate to ask but could you help work on it through the night? It might be the only way for it to get done."

"Of course, Professor." Louise inwardly groaned as she was faced with an all-night project. Considering everything Sycamore had done for her it was the least she could do to pay him back.

* * *

Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders everyone! Now, for any of you that had the question of why Louise in the cover image is cuddling with a Shiny Fennekin, well here's your answer.

Now, before any of you ask why Brennaraki is a Shiny, the reason being is because we wanted to use it to deepen the relationship between Louise and Brennaraki. The last thing we want is to have Louise simply get a Shiny just because. There is a reason for everything that we do in this story. Brennaraki being a shiny is just a part of her, but the effect it has had on her is just as important as Louise's being a Void Mage.

Hope you all enjoy!


	4. Season 1, Episode 1, Chapter 4

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 1, Chapter 4**

Louise sighed as she dutifully filled out the twelfth inventory form of the night. When Sycamore had asked her to help him with a project, she hadn't expected it to involve cataloging everything they had in the lab's stores, but she would persevere through this tedium. After all, Sycamore was giving her room and board. Boredom and lost sleep were a relatively small price to pay.

Louise flipped to the next form on the clipboard the Professor had given her, only to find out that the pen she had been using had run dry.

Louise gave a defeated sigh and set the clipboard down on a nearby shelf before walking back to Sycamore's office to grab another pen, making sure to discard the old one in a nearby trashcan.

 **Clunk!**

Louise glanced at the trashcan, curious as to why something so small would make such a loud noise.

"Eevee," a familiar feminine voice hissed from the direction of the office, "try not to be so loud! Augustine may be a deep sleeper, but I don't know enough about his new assistant to be sure that that didn't wake her up."

A cat-like growl was heard in response.

"Why do you hate me, Eevee?"

Louise crept toward the doorway during the two's interaction, only to decide to rush the last few feet, attempting to surprise the intruders. This caused Louise to crash into the intruder who, judging by the high-pitched squeal, appeared to be a woman. The two tumbled over each other before coming to a halt as a tangled heap of limbs.

"Get off me!" The intruder shouted. Louise in response grunted as she continued trying to untangle herself, all the while being able to take in the intruder's features. To her surprise, the intruder was none other than Elizabeth Colette, the collector from earlier that day, albeit wearing much darker clothing topped with a black beanie.

Louise, being the one on top, managed to disentangle herself first and scramble into the office, grabbing the Pokéball the verdette had dropped in her tumble. She frowned as she realized what Elizabeth had planned to do, quickly got to her feet, and turned toward the verdette, who too stood up and was now brushing off her skirt.

"So, this is why you were here," Louise said, backing up a few steps to put space between her and Elizabeth, "you wanted Brennaraki so bad that you'd—"

Whatever else Louise was going to say was cut off by Eevee letting out a yelp of pain as her tail was stepped on and then turned around and bit Louise's leg in retaliation.

The pinkette tried to dislodge the critter, only to fall on her rear and drop the Pokéball, which opened upon hitting the ground and disgorged a rather confused Brennaraki.

"It figures that you'd only decide to help me after your own tail is literally put on the line," Elizabeth remarks dryly, "Now, come on, let's get the Fennekin back in her ball so we can get out of here."

Upon hearing this, Louise gave Brennaraki a wide-eyed look, pleading her to do something.

"Yip?" she asked.

"Don't just stand there, get this rodent off me!" Louise all but yelled.

Brennaraki shrugged, then rammed into Eevee, knocking her loose but tearing up the bite in Louise's leg in the process. Pain erupted from Louise's leg as she screamed in pain, forcing her to fall and clutch her leg to stem the bleeding. Brennaraki, in response, looked back in horror at Louise's leg, eyeing the bright red blood spilling onto the floor. To the Eevee's credit, she also appeared surprised and a little remorseful at the state of Louise's leg, but not too much. After all, Louise had stepped on her tail.

"Why, you," Elizabeth said incredulously, "Eevee!"

Eevee picked herself up off the ground and growled at Brennaraki, who responded in turn by blowing smoke out her ears and letting out a growl of her own.

"Burn the damn rat, Brennaraki!" Louise shouted.

"You dare call her a rat!?" Elizabeth called back indignantly.

Brennaraki launched a small fireball at Eevee, only for the latter to jump out of the way and onto Sycamore's desk. Not wanting to let the Eevee get off that easy, Brennaraki did it again, only faster this time, releasing a chain of fireballs in rapid succession. Eevee dodged every one, but even Louise could tell that the Eevee was not trained particularly well. The constant dodging was tiring out the 'rat' far too quickly than it should have otherwise. After one fireball brushed closely enough to singe some of Eevee's fur, Eevee hissed at the fox, and kicked up some dust to temporarily blind her. The distraction bought time for Eevee to leap at the fox in a flying tackle, with claws outstretched, catching Brennaraki off guard and knocking her to the ground. Picking herself back up, Brennaraki missed her opponent circling around for another tackle that could finish the fight. The Eevee neared Brennaraki and leapt at her again.

"Brennaraki, duck!" Louise commanded, seeing what Eevee was about to do. Brennaraki immediately followed the command and dropped down to her belly, sprawled across all four legs. Eevee's eyes widened in surprise as she flew over Brennaraki's prone form, completely missing her target.

Unprepared for the sudden lack of resistance, Eevee crashed to the ground gracelessly, leaving herself wide open for another salvo from Brennaraki, who eagerly took advantage of the opportunity. The fireball made a direct, critical hit, sending Eevee flying into one of Sycamore's bookshelves. As Eevee attempted to pick herself up, the laden shelf toppled over, burying Eevee under an avalanche of books. Only Eevee's head was visible, and, judging by the dazed look on her face, she was out for the count. Seeing that the immediate danger had passed, Brennaraki quickly rushed back to Louise and took a defensive posture in front of her, shielding her from any retaliation that Elizabeth may undertake.

"Argh! Eevee, return," Elizabeth said, pulling out a Pokéball from her pocket and returning Eevee, "If it weren't for you, I'd be home free by now!" Elizabeth, knowing her chance was blown, turned in an attempt to escape, only to crash into the awaiting form of a particularly displeased Garchomp and professor.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that, Miss Elizabeth," Professor Sycamore said, leaning in the doorway.

Elizabeth gulped as she took in her current predicament, flanked on one end by an angry Garchomp and Pokémon Professor and an equally angry Fennekin on the other, realizing just how bad of a decision she had made in attempting to break in.

"H-how long have you been standing there?" she asked.

"Long enough to hear Louise call your partner a rat," Sycamore coldly replied. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you are in right now? I have half a mind to have Garchomp here restrain you as I call the police to have you arrested. Breaking and entering, attempted robbery, destruction of private property, assault with the intention of harm, may I go on!?" With each word, Sycamore grew more and more livid, while Elizabeth's face grew ever paler. "I would have every right to do so! But, I'm not. But, I will be speaking to your parents. You are incredibly lucky that Louise was not seriously hurt by your actions tonight, otherwise we would not be having this conversation. Now, Garchomp here will escort you off my property and you will return the key you used to get in. You are no longer welcome here. Get out."

"Y-yes, Professor, I'll get g-going now," Elizabeth stammered out, handing over the key to Sycamore's open hand, before pushing past Sycamore and running down the hall to the exit, Garchomp quickly stomping after her.

"Glad that's over with. What a mess…" Sycamore sighed, rubbing his hand through his hair as he watched Elizabeth's form retreating from the premises her metaphorical tail between her legs. Once she was out of sight, he turned back to look at Louise, who was both clutching her leg and staring at him with wide eyes. Brennaraki had herself decided to curl up next to Louise, licking her leg to alleviate the pain Louise was feeling.

He smiled, then spoke back up again. "Now, let's look at that leg."

* * *

"Ah!" Louise hissed in slight pain as Sycamore again applied disinfecting alcohol to the bite on Louise's leg. Brennaraki's ears perked up at the sounds of pain coming from Louise, looking up in concern from Louise's side. "Does it have to burn so much? And do you have to use that stuff?"

"Sorry, but yes to both. If I don't use this, your leg could get infected. I think even you know how bad that is," Sycamore lectured in a teasing tone before briefly looking up at Louise's paling face to see her nod rapidly. "Good. Now, let's see here…ooh, that Eevee got you good," Sycamore observed, looking at the bite. It wasn't that deep, but it would scar. Regardless, Sycamore began applying a tight bandage around Louise's leg, which fully stopped the bleeding. "There, all better. Now, since it's on your leg, it will probably hurt to put a lot of pressure and weight on it, so your movement will be impeded for a few hours. But, that should pass shortly," Sycamore told Louise as he got up and walked to the closest sink, washing his hands of the dried blood.

"Thank you, Professor. And I'm sorry," Louise thanked Sycamore before dejectedly looking down.

"For what?" At this, Sycamore turned to look at Louise in confusion. To his surprise, tears had become to accumulate on Louise's eyes, which he guessed came from the adrenaline finally running off and the events that just transpired finally clicking in Louise's mind.

"Brennaraki was almost stolen and it was all my fault!" Louise shouted before the tears started running down her face.

"Louise, Louise, it is fine. It was not your fault," Sycamore comforted Louise in a soft tone, kneeling down to look at her in the eye.

"But it was! I was there, and if I had paid more attention than Elizabeth wouldn't have gotten in and we wouldn't have gotten into a fight and destroyed your office and-" Louise rambled before Sycamore interrupted her and placed his hand on her shoulder in a placating way.

"Louise, you did everything perfectly. You could not have known that Elizabeth would have been that desperate to get Brennaraki to even attempt at breaking in. And besides, you took command of the situation, didn't you? You even commanded Brennaraki to victory, after only knowing about Pokémon for less than a week. That's impressive if you ask me," Sycamore smiled, which began to calm Louise down. She sniffled one last time, wiping away a tear from her face, before smiling back in turn.

"Thank you," Louise replied in thanks, at which point Sycamore got and began putting away the first aid kit he had brought out to clean Louise's leg. "I would not have expected such a small, cute creature to do this much damage."

"That's the thing, Louise. Pokémon, no matter how intelligent they are, are still highly dangerous if provoked. Even the small ones can pack quite a punch, judging by your leg over there."

"But I saw you get bit by other Pokémon before and you never got something like this?"

"I've been wondering about that myself. I have some theories, but if I had to guess, I think you being from a different world had something to do with it."

"What do you mean?"

"Are you familiar with the concept of Natural Selection?"

"Yes, I think I read about that here. It's…survival of the fittest, right?"

"Close, but not quite. That is a common misconception. Natural Selection is the process by which evolution, actual evolution, not the Rapid Metamorphosis most Pokémon go through during their lifespan, is the theory that the traits that most allow for an individual to survive get passed on through reproduction. On Earth, Pokémon have been around…practically forever, each capable of amazing feats of power. Our…my ancestors had to live in that time. So, the people who were able to better resist the attacks by Pokémon, whether it be fire, water, electricity, of any of the other types, lived to have children. Over time, we just became more resistant to that stuff. Your world, which by your accounts is still quite dangerous, did not have the same environmental factors we had. Therefore, your people did not develop the resistances we have, making you more vulnerable to Pokémon attacks." At this, Louise looked up at Sycamore in understanding before slowly lifting herself off the seat she was currently in, grunting in slight pain as she put weight on her leg.

"That…makes sense, I suppose. But what I don't get is, how did Elizabeth even get in?" Louise asked, hoping that Sycamore had an answer. Judging by how he froze up at that, she guessed she did.

"Oh, well, she stole the spare key. Yesterday," Sycamore sheepishly replied, rubbing the back of his neck. Louise's eyes narrowed at this in suspicion, as did Brennaraki.

"Where was the spare key?"

"Uh, well, funny story there. You see, it was…in my lab coat pocket…"

"And when did you discover that it was missing?" Louise's voice was beginning to rise in pitch at this point, as she suspected the incoming answer.

"…just after she left the lab."

"So you're telling me that not only did you know that Elizabeth would try something tonight, probably to steal Brennaraki, and you didn't even warn me!?" Louise shrieked. Brennaraki barked at the Professor as well, clearly angry.

"I didn't know for certain…"

"I got holes in my leg!"

"Okay, I know you're upset, but…you passed the test!" Sycamore revealed, attempting to calm down the increasingly red-faced Louise and smoking Brennaraki.

"…What test?" Louise asked, beginning to calm down. Seeing a chance at a respite, Sycamore continued on.

"You and Brennaraki were never in any danger. Garchomp and I were standing by before Elizabeth ever got inside the building. She would never have gotten out with that Pokéball," Sycamore calmly told the pinkette and fox.

"Then why didn't you stop her, when you easily could have?" Louise demanded, confusion written on her face.

"I wanted to see how you and Brennaraki would work with each other," Sycamore revealed to Louise and Brennaraki's astonishment. Seeing this, Sycamore continued. "In the few months I've had Brennaraki, she never got along with anyone other than myself. She didn't approve of any potential trainer, especially as she could tell that they only wanted her as a trophy, like Ms. Colette. When you arrived, I wanted to see if you would be different. And you were. Louise, you and Brennaraki got closer in a matter of minutes, which is more than I can say about anyone else. I wanted to see if Brennaraki would listen to you, and it appears that I was right, although your commands could use a bit more work."

"Wha-what are you saying?" Louise asked, voice trembling, with Brennaraki's eyes beginning to widen in realization.

"I'm saying that, if both of you want, I can have Brennaraki be signed over to you as your Starter," Sycamore finished, his arms outstretched and thrown slightly to the side. Louise's breath caught itself at this as she looked at Sycamore in astonishment before slowly gazing down at Brennaraki's expectant form, her tail wagging in jubilation.

"Do...Brennaraki, do you…?" Louise never got to finish her question, as Brennaraki yipped and leapt up into Louise's arms. The answer was certain. At this, Louise began to cry again, only this time with tears of joy as she hugged the fire fox tightly. "Yes! Thank you, thank you!"

"It's my pleasure, Louise. Now come on, let's get to bed. We'll set up your Trainer ID in the morning."

* * *

"Now, a Trainer ID serves a wide array of purposes for a Pokémon Trainer. It serves as an identification card, noting your name, age, and other necessary information, and it also serves as a license to even be a Pokémon Trainer. For me to have Brennaraki registered to you, you must set it up. Don't worry, the process is simple, and the software walks you through it. A 10-year-old could even do it," Sycamore told Louise as he stood beside her. Louise herself was sitting in front some a strange box with a screen. Apparently, it one of these 'computers' Earth was so dependent on. She hadn't used one of these before now, and as Sycamore turned it on, she gasped in amazement as the screen lit up. Sycamore briefly took control of the controller, apparently called a 'mouse', and moved the arrow on the screen to a Pokéball icon and clicked on it, causing a window to open. An image of an old man with white combed hair soon appeared in front of her, which to Louise's amazement began to move and speak!

" _Hello, and welcome to the world of Pokémon. My name is Professor Oak…"_ The man on screen started, at which point Louise turned to look at Sycamore.

"Who's that?" Louise asked in slight confusion.

"That is Professor Samuel Oak," Sycamore replied.

"Oh, him! The man who invented stats!"

"He's also the single most respected Pokémon researcher in the world. A few years back, he made this program to help walk people through making their Trainer IDs after the Pokémon League asked him to. Just do what he tells you to and you'll be done in about five minutes. I already have all the information you'll need right here," Sycamore told Louise, patting on a small stack of paper located on the desk before walking out of the room. "Holler if you need anything!"

As Sycamore closed the door behind him, Louise turned back to the screen. Professor Oak at this point had returned a feminine looking green and white Pokémon that he called a Gardevoir and was now starting to ask her questions.

" _Now tell me, what is your name?"_

"Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Vallière," Louise slowly stated to herself as she typed in her name using the letters on the keyboard, only to growl in frustration as her name was too large to fully fit, not to mention not properly capitalized. After finding the backspace button and figuring out how to capitalize and accent the right characters, she simply shortened it to 'Louise Vallière' and pressed the next button to move on.

" _Are you a boy, or a girl?"_ Louise's eye twitched at this as she realized this was going to be _fun_.

After 10 minutes of tediously inputting data, a process that was made much more difficult due to being spoken to like she was a 10-year-old, Louise had finally finished uploading the right information and submitted the Trainer ID. Now, all she would have to do is wait a day or two for it to arrive by mail, and Brennaraki would be hers. Louise sighed in relief and leaned back in her chair before she decided to use the computer to computer to research something she was curious about. Sycamore had told her about the 'internet' and how it could be used to find information about whatever she wanted. After seeing the Gardevoir in the video, she was curious about it and decided to open the internet and type in the name.

"Let's see…Gardevoir, powerful psychic…wow this is cool! Ooh, they even have images!"

* * *

Sycamore, after cleaning up the dried blood and burn marks as best he could, had begun to do the paperwork signing over Brennaraki to Louise when he heard a loud explosion come from the computer lab, causing him to jump out of his chair in surprise along with Brennaraki. Together, the two quickly threw open the door and raced down the hall, with Garchomp not far behind. When they reached the computer lab, they threw open the door to find a disheveled looking Louise holding her wand and standing over the smoking corpse of the computer she was using.

"What happened!?" Sycamore shouted in worry. At this, Louise looked up at him with crazed eyes before she began to speak.

"Your people…are SICK! HOW DARE YOU PEOPLE DEGRADE CREATURES LIKE THAT!"

"What are you talking about?! What did you see?!"

"I…looked up Gardevoir and clicked on images…" Louise quietly revealed and shuddered, to which Sycamore winced in sympathy, alongside Garchomp.

"Ohhh... Yeah, don't do that."

"Why…?"

"I don't know. People are weird, I guess."

"… Sorry for breaking your computer," Louise sheepishly apologize, to which Sycamore shrugged.

"Don't worry, its fine. Besides, I don't have to pay for a new one," Sycamore revealed.

"What do you mean? It's totaled," Louise asked in confusion, echoing the look Brennaraki shared.

"Well you see, after Ms. Elizabeth left last night, I had a _wonderful_ conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Colette. They were deeply sorry for their daughter's actions and for what happened to your leg. In recompense, they made a generous 'donation' of 10,000,000 Pokédollars to the lab, with which we can use however we please," Sycamore slyly revealed, information which caused Louise to wickedly smile.

"Did they now? That was nice of them," Louise laughed.

"And thoughtful. Now, come along, there's something I need to show you real quick before we do anything else."

* * *

"What is that?" Louise asked as she closely examined a large clear crystal with a yellow and black spiral inside.

"That is a Mega Stone. Powerful stones capable of giving certain Pokémon vast amounts of power. I believe this to be specifically a Beedrillite, recently uncovered and shipped from the Hoenn region. This was given to me by Professor Birch, who knew I studied Mega Evolution, and figured it would aid me in my research," Sycamore revealed, looking down at the aforementioned Beedrillite.

"Wow… Why did you want me to look at this? I mean, it's pretty and all, but I don't have a Beedrill. Nor do I plan on getting one," Louise asked in confusion, looking up at Sycamore and wondering what the answer is.

"Well, now that you are an official Pokémon Trainer, with a Starter to back up that claim, I was hoping you would make a delivery for me."

"A…delivery? Wait, you want me to deliver the Beedrillite to someone, don't you?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Why can't you? I mean, I've only had Brennaraki for less than a day. Wouldn't you be much more suited for this than me?"

"My research here keeps me from doing the delivery myself, and I don't trust anyone else to deliver something as important as this," Sycamore told Louise in a matter-of-fact way, causing her to blush from the praise.

"I…I'm honored, Professor. Don't you worry, I'll get this delivered in no time at all!" Louise said excitedly, throwing her arm up into the air in exclamation, which Brennaraki, currently perched on her shoulder, mimed. The two turned to move, only to stop and sheepishly turned back to face Sycamore.

"Need to know where to take it?"

"…yes please."

"Heh, I thought so. I need you to deliver this to a woman named Viola Pansy, over in Santalune City, on the other end of Parterre Way- err, Route 4. It's only a few days' journey by foot, so it shouldn't take you that long to get over there. Don't worry, we'll use Elizabeth's 'donation' to get whatever supplies you need."

"Wait, you mean…?"

"Pokéballs, medicine, food, tents, anything that you might need. Come on, let's get to the stores before we hit the rush."

* * *

"You know, I am so happy we used Elizabeth's money for this…" Sycamore groaned as he looked at the receipt after they finally concluded their shopping. He had expected Louise to go for the more affordable selections like most trainers starting out. Regular Pokéballs, Potions, and a wide selection of individual cures for various ailments. That is not what she did.

"I told you, as a noble I demand the best. The same goes for my Pokémon. Isn't that right, Brennaraki?" Louise said with her head held high.

"Yip!" Brennaraki barked in agreement, eyes closed in content.

"Of course, how could I forget that…?" Sycamore sighed. Apparently to Louise, 'the best' automatically defaulted to 'most expensive', and that applied to everything they got. Most expensive tent in the store? She bought it. Most expensive travel shoes? Got that. Regular Pokéballs? Why get that when Luxury Balls are so much better. The rest of Louise's purchases all followed that pattern, as she treated the expensive items as the default. She also bought a large amount of Full Restores, reasoning that they were the best medicine to get, and a lot of Ethers. She also decided to go ahead and buy every single TM that the store offered. She was lucky this was Elizabeth's money, otherwise Sycamore would have stopped her. All in all, Louise ended up reducing the 10,000,000 down to 3,000,000 just by herself, leaving just enough to buy a high-end replacement computer. Sycamore's soul would have cried. Louise's on the other hand was ecstatic.

"Quit worrying! Besides, the store seemed to like us!"

"Can't imagine why… Louise, in the future, you need to not immediately go to the most expensive stuff. More expensive does not necessarily mean better. That line of thinking will cause you to go broke. You're lucky I let you splurge, next time you won't be," Sycamore warned Louise, body straining from carrying everything.

"Humph," Louise dismissed, still confident in her choices. Soon enough, the duo finally made their way back to Sycamore's lab. Once they entered, they quickly dropped off the supplies into the living room and began organizing everything. Ultimately, even Sycamore had to admit that Louise had a good eye for quality, as the supplies she bought were quite good. The backpack was great, with a wide array of pockets to allow for efficient storage of everything. As Louise began organizing her backpack, Sycamore left the room to grab one last thing from his office.

"Louise, I have one last thing for you. Come here," Sycamore shouted out from his office, causing Louise to stop what she was doing and make her way over. Inside, Sycamore was holding a clear red and blue slab that appeared to be displaying information.

"What is that?" Louise asked in confusion.

"This is called a Pokédex. It is an all-encompassing encyclopedia on everything about a Pokémon. It can display their currently known moves, what moves they can learn, and their stats, along with basic information about a species. These are only given out by a region's professor, and now I am giving one to you," Sycamore revealed, carefully handing the device over to Louise who grabbed it with reverence.

"Wow, I…I don't know what to say. Thank you, Professor," Louise gasped out as she held the Pokédex in her hands.

"You don't have to say anything, Louise. This is a gift. Where you are going, I'm pretty sure you'll need it. Come on, let's finish packing up your bag." At this, the two of them got and returned to their previous task, all the while making small talk and knowing that the end was coming near.

* * *

The next morning, the two of them walked to the Lumiose gatehouse to Route 4, with Louise wearing her travel gear. On her back was a blue and red hiking backpack, which held her sleeping bag, tent, and various other supplies in the appropriately marked pockets. Gone were her academy heels; in their place were a pair of brown hiking boots. A thin, red-silk hairband was wrapped around from the top of Louise's head to its base. The rest of her academy uniform was in place, although she now wore black leggings that went all the way down, along with a pair of black, fingerless trainer gloves.

"Well, this is it. Don't worry, you'll be fine. The Pokédex also functions as a phone, so if you need to you can call me. And besides, you have Brennaraki! You two will keep each other safe. I know it," Sycamore gently comforted Louise as she stood at the threshold to the well-kept road. Louise took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. In truth, she was scared. Ever since she had arrived at this world, Professor Sycamore had always been there for her, been at her side. And now, she was leaving him to go off into the unknown, all alone. Hearing a small yip coming below her, Louise looked down and saw Brennaraki smiling up at her in excitement, causing Louise to smile as well. She wasn't alone, not anymore. As she began walking down the route, she stopped as she realized she had one last thing she had to do. She quickly turned around and ran back to Sycamore and give him a hug, briefly surprising him before he smiled and returned the embrace.

"Thank you. For everything," Louise said with gratitude filling every word. Brennaraki held back, not wanting to ruin the moment, as Sycamore smiled and let go.

"No thanks is needed, Louise. Now go, that mega stone isn't going to deliver itself," Sycamore laughed. At this, Louise smiled and ran back to Brennaraki. As the two began walking towards their next destination, a feeling formed up from inside Louise. She did not know what this journey would entail or whether it would end with just the delivery or go beyond it. But she did know this: these were the first real steps to proving her worth - to Arceus, to her classmates, and to herself. And she couldn't be happier.

* * *

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Thank you all for the reviews, follows, and favorites. It means a lot to us. Now to answer some reviewer questions.

 **ian25rebel** : This story is definitely on the lighter side, but there are some darker elements in there after all. Hence why we have a T rating. Also, Brennaraki does not have Battle Bond. Her ability is Blaze. What I meant by her being shiny being similar to Louise's Void was how it affected them previously. Brennaraki was highly sought after by collectors when that wasn't what she wanted and Louise was ostracized by being unable to properly cast magic.

 **Celestia's Paladin** and **PokemonFan93** : Kalos actually was deliberately chosen because of where Louise originally came from. Halkegenia is fantasy Europe, and since Kalos is the closest equivalent to Pokémon's Europe we have, we all thought it made the most sense.

Now then, Louise is now on her journey, and as with many Pokémon journeys, it starts with a delivery. Will things turn out well for her? Find out next time!


	5. Season 1, Episode 2, Chapter 1

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 2, Chapter 1**

* * *

When Louise and Brennaraki had set off earlier at dawn, going south on Route 4, she, and by extension Professor Sycamore, had expected it go smoothly. After all, Route 4, otherwise known as Parterre Way, is widely considered to be a beginner's route. Many families even have picnics on the Route, which Louise saw personally as she passed by several during her now seven-hour trek. However, things were not going to plan. Gone was happy and exhilarated Louise from the start of her journey. In her place, was something else entirely different.

"Why… in the founder's name… did I refuse… transportation?!" Louise wheezed out as she trekked along, with a defeated Brennaraki having retreated into her Luxury Ball and adjusted her backpack for the tenth time in the past half hour alone. "Oh yeah…I remember! 'Oh, you don't have to get a ride for me, Professor! You've done enough already! I can do this myself! Besides, it'll be fun!' Founder, I'm an idiot! This isn't fun at all! My feet hurt like hell, this stupid backpack is way too heavy with all the stupid stuff I bought!" As Louise continued to rant, she paused for a moment to wipe away the heavy sweat that flooded her head and swipe away a small cloud of mosquitoes hovering around her.

If one were to look at Louise, they would assume she was miserable, and they would be correct. As it turns out, Louise and Brennaraki were not in as good of shape as either them nor Sycamore assumed. Now, to be fair, Louise was in better shape than most of her classmates. Lack of proper magic control forces someone to walk and carry a lot, rather than levitate. But Louise had never traveled this far before on foot, especially while burdened with a heavy backpack, and Brennaraki had never gone outside the lab. Indeed, much of the problem laid with the backpack itself, and its contents, something Louise was very much cognizant of.

"'Oh, Louise. I think you got too much. You don't need that many supplies for a two-day hike.' 'It'll be fine, Professor! You worry too much! Better safe than sorry, am I right?' Yeah, right! More like buy enough to break my back!" Louise raged in frustration, all the while extremely grateful that she was alone with her thoughts. "Stupid Poké-Mart Supercenter…" At this point, Louise's rage began to cool, with the day's exhaustion roaring back into its rightful place.

"Forget… this. I got…to take a break…" Louise wheezed as she dragged herself to a nearby tree, sitting down and leaning against it. As she sat down, she removed the large backpack, placing it on the ground next to her, reliving her body of the extra weight. At the same time, she removed her hiking boots, freeing herself from its tight space.

"Ahh, that's better…" Louise breathed out as she rubbed her feet. Before long, Louise began to drift off, until sleep descended upon her, not stopping to wonder where the mosquitoes had gone.

* * *

When Louise opened her eyes again, the sun still shone brightly overhead but was noticeably further down. She would only have a few more hours of daylight left before she would have to make camp for the night. With that in mind, Louise reluctantly began to try and move back up, only for a weight to keep her down, not to mention her right arm was still asleep and refused to budge. She looked down to see the still sleeping form of Brennaraki curled up on Louise, using her legs as a bed. Apparently, Brennaraki had gotten out of her Luxury Ball and had decided that Louise's lap made a suitable bed. The fire fox was snoring and judging by the smile on its face was having a wonderful dream.

Louise smiled at the adorable scene before a thought came to her head. She had never actually scanned Brennaraki with the Pokédex. Plus, Sycamore had told her it had a wide variety of functions that she didn't know how to use, and now was as good a time as any. Carefully, Louise maneuvered the backpack around for her to manipulate and reach inside. While searching for the Pokédex, she was quickly reminded of her last shopping experience, but she put the grumbling feelings aside, along with the useless stuff she had bought until she felt the shape of the Pokédex and grabbed it. The Pokédex itself was small, square in shape and pink in color. But, when Louise turned it on, the square expanded into a vertical rectangle, with clear glass forming the expansion. The glass did not stay clear for long, as it quickly turned light blue, lighting up and filling with colorful icons. As Sycamore described it, each icon represented a different application or function of the Pokédex, something Louise remembered as she tapped the first icon, one that looked like a map. The screen then shifted and displayed a map of Kalos, with each route clearly displayed and named. Breathing in amazement, Louise pressed her finger on Route 4, whereupon the map zoomed in and displayed Route 4 in full, with a red 'X' showing her position. Sycamore had apparently already used this app and had set her destination to Santalune Forest, and even when off had done an approximate time for her arrival. Louise had to bite back a curse at this, as according to the map she was only a quarter of the way through and, based off her current speed, would take two days to get to Santalune, and that was without stopping. Louise groaned at this, realizing that it would likely be four more days of walking in hellish conditions, for her anyway.

Sighing, Louise exited the map and pressed the next icon, a rectangle with a circle on the top middle, where the screen then shifted to display Louise's surprised face, along with a wide array of other icons. Louise gasped in surprise, only to accidentally press a circle icon, causing a snapping effect. Once it was done, a still image of Louise's surprised face filled the screen, with a 'Keep? Yes or No' buttons appearing on the top of the screen. Louise then realized what this function apparently was. Apparently, if she had to guess, this was the camera application, which according to Sycamore could take both photographs and videos. Louise, not wanting to keep that photo, quickly pressed no and prepared to exit the camera when the sight of a still sleeping Brennaraki gave her an idea. Louise then proceeded to find and press the flip button, replacing the sight of her face with that Brennaraki. Louise, after shifting the Pokédex to the right angle, took the picture and, proud of her first real photograph taken, pressed the 'Yes' button and saved the image before finally leaving the camera application.

Deciding not to waste any more time, Louise looked around for the actual Pokédex application icon, skipping over most of the other icons, before settling on a familiar Pokéball icon. Assuming it was the correct icon, Louise pressed it, which proved her assumption to be correct as the Pokédex opened. Angling the Pokédex towards Brennaraki, Louise activated the Scan function. To her surprise, a female sounding voice came out of the Pokédex, shocking Louise and waking up Brennaraki, none too pleased to be woken up from her rest. "Sorry…" Louise whispered out, before focusing on what the voice was saying.

" _Fennekin, the Fox Pokémon. Its large ears serve as air vents, expelling hot air that can reach up to 200 degrees Celsius,_ " The Pokédex informed Louise and Brennaraki, looking smug at the information. Seeing as how the Pokédex was no longer speaking, Louise decided to continue to the next section, which displayed her acquired Pokémon. As she only had Brennaraki, only her image appeared, with five more open slots available. According to Sycamore, a Trainer could apparently catch as many Pokémon as a trainer so desires, but a team can only be at most six. Moving this to the back of her mind, Louise clicked on Brennaraki's image, which shifted the screen to display more detailed information regarding Louise's Pokémon. Apparently, according to Sycamore, Pokéballs can conduct a more detailed scan of captured Pokémon, transmitting data to Pokédexes to tell trainers the moves, abilities, and stats of caught Pokémon.

"Okay, let's see here…" Louise stated aloud. "Brennaraki, you know the moves…Ember, I'm assuming that was the fireball you made earlier?" Louise asked Brennaraki, who nodded in affirmation, at which point Louise moved on. "And you also know…Magic Coat, which can reflect status moves back onto the attacker. Yeah, I could see how that could be usef-" Louise started before a light clicking noise sounded, to which Brennaraki tensed up, hairs standing on end and steam erupting from her ears. At this point, Louise realized that her arm was suddenly a little heavier than normal and was now emitting a strange clicking sound. Slowly, Louise turned her head to look at the source of the sound and weight, only to see a large green spider looking right into her eyes.

"AHH!" Louise shrieked as she jumped to her feet, causing the spider to jump onto the tree and accidentally sending a yipping Brennaraki flying forward. In a panic, Louise began to run, before an upturned root caused her to trip, ripping her leggings in the process. Louise quickly turned over to her back and began to crawl backward, her eyes never leaving the large spider, who continued to look at her in what appeared to be confusion, until an orange blur soared passed her as Brennaraki charged at the spider. Using teeth and claws, the fire fox engaged the spider, the two tumbling over each other.

"Brennaraki, attack!" Louise ordered, only to receive a look that screamed ' _With what?_ ' as it continued to bite and claw at the spider, causing Louise to scramble for an answer. "Uhh, just kick the spider off and bite it!"

At this, Brennaraki kicked the spider off her body and rolled back onto her feet, before quickly launching into a flying leap at the spider, who used a web sling to dodge the incoming fangs. Thinking quickly, Louise pulled out her Pokédex and scanned the spider, all the while Brennaraki continued the assault.

" _Spinarak, the String Spit Pokémon. Spinaraks can patiently wait days for prey to come within reach of its webs,_ " the Pokédex revealed as it displayed Spinarak's species information, revealing it to be a Bug and Poison type.

"Brennaraki, it's weak to fire! Start using Ember but watch out for those webs!" Louise ordered, watching the scene with baited breath. Brennaraki began to fire salvo after salvo of fireballs at the Spinarak, who by now was firing off attacks of its own, a mixture of web strings and poison darts. Unlike the Eevee, Brennaraki was much more skilled at dodging, bobbing and weaving in between the Spinarak's moves and firing off a fireball in-between each one. In turn, the Spinarak continued to swing around the tree to swing past the oncoming fireballs, only pausing to shoot out those darts. Those darts, however, went wide every time, both due to poor accuracy of the Spinarak and Brennaraki's skilled dodging, while her fireballs frequently came close to hitting her target. Eventually, a direct hit was scored on the Spinarak, who tumbled to the ground in a heap. Unfortunately, just as Louise and Brennaraki thought they had the fight in the bag, three strings of webbing shot out from the tree, hitting her square on, quickly encasing her in a cocoon of webbing.

"Brennaraki!" Louise shouted in alarm, rushing over to her fallen friend while the Spinarak quickly scuttled back up the tree. Louise quickly began to tear apart the webbing freeing her friend before a thought entered her mind. "Why didn't I grab my wand?!" Louise slapped herself before resuming in removing the web's.

After a few minutes of web tearing, Brennaraki was finally free of the cocoon and began heating up her body to burn off the small web strands still on her body, while Louise angrily up at the tree, her stare returned by four pairs of wary eyes. Before the tense standoff could turn into another confrontation, the eyes disappeared, leaving Louise and Brennaraki alone once again. With the danger passed, Louise allowed herself to release the breath she had been holding in.

"Okay, that was…not very good. On both of us," Louise admitted, only receiving a glare in response, making her pause in embarrassment before continuing on. "I…think we should practice a bit. Your attacks, me giving commands, the whole thing. That should not have happened. That…Spinarak was a Bug-type, an insect. Your Fire should have made this easy, but that did not happen. I should not have panicked like that, which threw us completely off guard. It kept dodging all our attacks, and when it saw an opening, it took it. I say we should work on those issues before we move on, alright?" Louise asked Brennaraki, who nodded in agreement. "Okay, let's get to work."

* * *

Although she would begrudgingly admit that she _may_ have gone a little overboard while at the Poké-Mart Supercenter, in this case, she was happy with what she purchased. A set of practice targets had caught her eye while at the store and she decided that they would be good in case Louise needed them. As it turned out, that was a smart move. Using the targets, Louise created a makeshift target range, attaching the targets to various trees or makeshift stands that she made using sticks and duct tape. Several hours later, the seeds of Louise and Brennaraki's labors were beginning to bear fruit.

"Ember! Top left!" Louise ordered to Brennaraki, who fired a single shot at the target in question. "Bottom right!" Again, a single shot rang out.

Louise and Brennaraki had been doing this and only this for the past few hours. Louise would call out a target and move to use, and Brennaraki would follow the command. This practice served two purposes: One, it allowed Louise to get better at issuing commands. Two, it allowed Brennaraki to practice her aim. It wouldn't just be against single, non-moving targets. They would switch it up every so often, with Louise sometimes ordering Brennaraki to attack multiple targets in rapid succession and even throwing a few targets into the air to create a moving target.

It wasn't without its problems, however. During the process of setting up the range, the rip in Louise's leggings, formed during the Spinarak encounter, spread due to the stress of moving, and eventually split the entire garment in half. To preserve her dignity, Louise had to change into a pair of blue jeans she had bought at the Poké-Mart. Overall, however, Louise would say this was a successful use of her time.

"Now, hit all of them!" Louise yelled out, throwing five targets into the air, watching as five fireballs shot out towards their target. Four made their mark, with the fifth unfortunately going wide.

"Whew!" Louise sighed wiping away the sweat from her brow. But, as Louise looked around, she noticed the sun begin to dip below the horizon. Apparently, she lost track of time while setting up the range. Realizing that it was late enough for her to justify setting up camp for the night, Louise called out to her starter. "Brennaraki! We're going to have to call it a night. Help me set up camp."

Brennaraki yipped in response as she trotted over, pride evident in the way she carried herself over her practice performance.

"Okay, first thing is the…tent! Where is…" Louise asked herself as she reached around for the tent capsule. The tent that Louise had bought was the single most expensive item she bought but based off its boasted features was apparently well worth the price. It was rated for sub-zero temperatures, could hold multiple people comfortably inside. It even came in a collapsible container which squeezed the tent into a more manageable size. Louise would have been more impressed with that feature had the small size not made it so hard to find.

"Where…are…you…" Louise grumbled as she pulled out various items in her search. Pots and pans, silverware, glass jars, spare clothes, Louise pulled all of these out and more in her search before finally grasping the cylindered container of her tent.

"Found it!" Louise shouted out in victory as she held aloft the correct item capsule. Smiling, she activated the ball and threw it towards an open part of the clearing she and Brennaraki had practiced in, releasing the tent. At which point, another issue made itself apparent.

"…how do I set this up?" Louise wondered aloud as she gazed at the clumped mess that was the tent, turning to look at Brennaraki in vain hope, only to receive a shrug in response.

"Okay, this shouldn't be too difficult to figure out. I mean, how hard can it be?" Louise asked herself as she moved towards the tent. Thirty minutes later, with the moon beginning to rise above, she had her answer. "This is impossible!" Louise yelled out in frustration, throwing the tent poles onto the ground in frustration. Setting up the tent proved itself to be much more confusing than Louise had anticipated and as such was completely unable to successfully set up the tent without damaging it.

"Well, that was a complete waste of time," Sighing in defeat, Louise stuffed the tent materials back inside the container and placed it back inside her backpack. At the same time, she pulled out her sleeping bag. Like her tent, it two was rated for sub-zero temperatures and thus was very expensive. "At least this is simple enough…" Louise grumbled to herself as she rolled out the sleeping bag, only to stop when a gust of the night wind caused her to stop and shiver.

"Okay, got to make a fire," Louise shivered. She had already gathered some wood earlier that day while setting up the makeshift target range. Throwing the scraps of wood into a hastily made hole in the ground, surrounded by small rocks, an idea formed in her head.

"Brennaraki, can you come over here, please?" Louise asked her starter, who was resting on a fallen log. Perking up at the summons, Brennaraki walked over to Louise and sat down, awaiting further instruction.

"Can you light this for me with an Ember?" Louise asked the fire fox, who nodded in affirmation. At this, Louise smiled and stepped back in anticipation. Brennaraki then launched a fireball at the small pile of wood, causing it to come to a sputtering life. "Alright, good job Brennaraki!" Louise congratulated the Fennekin on a job well done, Brennaraki beaming at the praise.

With the fire going, Louise and Brennaraki began to huddle around it, basking in its warmth, before the sound of rumbling stomachs caught both of their attention. Knowing what to do, Louise pulled out a pan, a grill pan, and some food, placing them all on the fire. Staring into the slow cooking meal, and patience wearing thin after a long day, an idea formed in Louise's head.

"Hey, do you think you can heat this up, too?" Louise asked Brennaraki, receiving an eager yip in response. Taking the pan out of the fire and holding it above Brennaraki, Louise readied herself to eat a hot meal as Brennaraki fired a fireball, only to find herself shocked and disappointed when the food was burnt charcoal black. "Well, that's…disappointing," Louise said to herself, causing Brennaraki to look down in shame.

"Oh, it's okay, Brennaraki! We just…need to work on your control next time, that's all," Louise attempted to comfort her starter, feeling bad for her poor choice of words. Seeing how it wasn't working, Louise reached back into her backpack and pulled out some meal bars, one for her and one for Brennaraki. "Here, see? We'll be fine."

At the sight of food, no matter how unappetizing it may taste, Brennaraki tore into the meal bar. At his point, Louise had changed into her pink Pokéball styled pajamas and had migrated into her sleeping bag, wrapping herself up in its covers like a cocoon. As the fire died began to die down, Louise tried to drift off to sleep, only to find that, without the exhaustion from earlier, the ground was too hard for her to sleep. The sounds of the forest, teeming with nocturnal Pokémon and insects, also kept Louise awake, fearful of what the night may bring, only to feel a warm sensation from inside her sleeping bag. Looking down, Louise saw Brennaraki had squeezed her way inside of Louise's sleeping bag and had proceeded to curl up on her. Sighing in comfort, Louise wrapped her arms around Brennaraki and gazed upwards into the star-filled sky. She began to count the stars and searched constellations until sleep finally overcame her.

* * *

Hello, everyone! Here is the next chapter of Outsiders. As you all probably guessed, things did not go as well as Louise intended, but life never quite cooperates with us does it.

Now to answer questions:

 **MAJORMATT1234** : We do have Louise's team all planned out already, and will not be accepting OCs. Thank you for the offer, however. Hers and Saito's teams have all been planned out, each with their own unique personalities.

 **Celestia's Paladin** : This story actually takes place after the events of the XY anime. But, we are incorporating elements of the games where appropriate, as well as our own additions.

For example, you may notice how we do not utilize traditional Poke-Speak in our story. That is a deliberate choice to make the Pokémon seem more natural. Plus, we didn't want to have to keep writing the same name over and over again and try to make it into a conversation.

 **PokemonFan93** : Other characters from the Anime and Games will be making appearances. What they are, we will not say.

 **Super heavy weapons guy** : Her reaction is 100% justified. Anyone in her situation would do such a thing after all.

Thank you all for your support! Stay tuned for the next chapter to be posted tomorrow!


	6. Season 1, Episode 2, Chapter 2

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 2, Chapter 2**

The next morning, her back sore after sleeping on the rough forest floor and after eating breakfast, Louise began the day's walking. To her relief, the trek was becoming slightly easier for her to handle, probably due to her having more realistic expectations now. As she continued along the path, Brennaraki walking alongside her, a loud chirp caught her attention. Looking around for the source of the chirp, Louise saw a small bird cleaning itself on a branch. It looked like a small bird, only orange and grey in color, with black and white tail feathers. Recognizing that this was a Pokémon, Louise pulled out her Pokédex and activated the Scan function.

" _Fletchling, the Tiny Robin Pokémon. Fletchlings are known for their gentle demeanor and communicate via song._ " The Pokédex automated voice rang out. True enough, the Fletchling began to sing, giving the air the sweet chorus of its song.

"Wow…" Louise whispered in awe as she silently looked at the singing bird. She could have sworn that she saw the Fletchling perk up at that, but there was no way it heard her. Soon enough, more songs filled the air as other Fletchlings made their presence known. The songs combined into an orchestra, filling the air with a plethora of songs, each unique yet harmoniously merging.

"It's…beautiful…" Louise marveled at what she was hearing and judging by the silence of Brennaraki she too felt the scene was a wondrous sight to behold. Not wanting to further intrude, Louise and Brennaraki silently continued, allowing the songs of the Fletchlings to grow fainter and fainter as they walked away.

* * *

As the day dragged on, Louise eventually was forced to come to a rest as the day's trek finally caught up with her. Knowing that there was likely not going to be any more walking today, and with the day beginning to turn into twilight, Louise and Brennaraki began setting up camp. As Louise pulled out the tent container, she emptied its contents, only to reveal the tent in a tangled heap. Glaring at the tangled mess in front of her, Louise debated whether or not it would be worth untangling the mess and attempting to set it up again only to sigh in defeat and began the process of returning the tent to its container, deciding it was not worth the time nor hassle.

"Looks like I'm sleeping in a bag again…" Louise grumbled, before a buzzing noise became faintly heard as a creature entered the clearing. It looked like a flying honeycomb with faces, with three yellow hexagons, each with its own face, and a pair of wings on its sides. Remembering the last encounter with a Bug-type Pokémon, Louise and Brennaraki tensed for a confrontation, only to be surprised as the bug flew around them to some nearby flowers. Based on the loud sucking noise coming from the bees, they appeared to be sucking in nectar. As it continued to absorb nectar, Louise once again pulled out her Pokédex to see what this Pokémon was.

" _Combee, the Tiny Bee Pokémon. Combee's take nectar from flowers and are able to quickly turn it into honey."_ The Pokédex spouted out as Louise continued to watch the Combee, now being joined by a few more. One Combee, the only one with a red patch on its center face instead of blue, came up to a flower near Louise's feet and eyed her inquisitively.

"Oh, you want this?" Louise, after a moment's hesitation, asked the diminutive creature. Seeing the smiling faces nod and happily buzz, Louise, realizing that the Combee meant her no harm, moved to sit down on a nearby rock, giving the Combee access to the sought-after flower. The Combee smiled, moving towards the flower, while Louise continued to watch with a peaceful smile on her face.

"Chirp!" A soft cry rang out across the clearing, making the Combee halt in their tracks while Louise began looking for the familiar cry's source. After a few moments, she found it, a Fletchling perched on a tree branch overlooking the clearing.

"Is that…the same Fletchling from before?" Louise asked herself, confused and eyeing the small robin while Brennaraki tilted her head in confusion. That confusion widened when another Fletchling made itself known. Then another, and another, until finally the clearing was surrounded by roughly twelve Fletchlings. At that point, Louise and Brennaraki's confusion turned into apprehension. The blue Combees had already formed a protective circle around the red Combee, the once smiling faces frowning.

"Chirp! Chirp!" The Fletchlings cried out to each other as they took to the sky, circling around the clearing overhead, their eyes never leaving the Combees.

"Oh no…" Louise whispered in silent horror, realization dawning as to the bird's intentions. "They're hunting." As the words left Louise's mouth, a sharp cry rang out from the flock, and the Fletchlings began to dive bomb.

"AAGH!" Louise screamed, dropping down to her knees and began to crawl as the Fletchlings dived down, attacking the Combees. Any birds that got too close to Louise's retreating form quickly got scared off via Brennaraki firing off warning shots.

Once Louise got far enough away, she jumped to her feet and began to run, only to stop as she heard the fearful buzzing of the Combees. She turned around and gazed at the Combees and Fletchlings. Although the number of Fletchlings had dropped, to about ten, the Combees were in a much worse position. The vast majority were knocked out, some with more serious wounds than others. There were only three left, the red Combee and two blue Combees acting as bodyguards, warding off any Fletchlings that got too close. Noticing Louise's presence, the red Combee turned around to look at her and Brennaraki with desperation, pleading for help, just as another Fletchling dive-bombed the distracted Combee. As the Fletchling neared, Louise came to a decision.

"Ember!" Louise shouted to Brennaraki, who fired a volley of fireballs at the dive-bombing bird, with most hitting their mark. Caught off guard and hurt from the unexpected attack, the Fletchling was momentarily grounded before quickly darting back into the air where they proceeded to circle along with the rest of the Fletchlings that had turned their attention away from the Combees to her. Before any of them could do anything, a large swarm of Combees rushed out of the forest, drawing their attention away from Louise and towards the incoming bugs. All broke away and attacked the swarm, except for the Fletchling who Louise attacked, who landed back on the ground, staring at Louise.

"Chirp!" The Fletchling called out, almost as if issuing a challenge. She narrowed her eyes and readied herself, as Brennaraki crouched down in anticipation. A silent pause broke out between the two, the sounds of Avian-Insect battle becoming faint in the background before the Fletchling cried out and took to the sky. As it rose, it began flapping its wings, causing a shift in the winds that coalesced behind the bird, and as it continued to fly Louise noticed a significant jump in its speed from before.

"Brennaraki! It's making itself faster!" Louise warned Brennaraki as the Fletchling dived down at Brennaraki like a missile. She dived to the right to dodge the bird as it swooped towards her, barely managing to avoid its beak.

"Keep using Ember! Dodge after each shot!" Louise yelled out, which Brennaraki dutifully obeyed.

The battle went on back and forth. For the most part, Brennaraki's skill in dodging allowed her to skillfully avoid damage, while the Fletchling's Tailwind allowed it to speed past the fireballs. However, as the winds calmed, the Fletchling slowed down, giving Brennaraki an opening to fire an Ember at the slowed bird, scoring a direct hit. Once again, the Fletchling crashed down, but before it could it could pick itself back up Brennaraki tackled it, pining it to the ground. As the bird struggled to remove the much larger fox, the Fletchling slowly ceased its efforts until stopping its struggle. It had lost.

"Yes!" Louise cheered out, before noticing Brennaraki giving her an expectant look.

"What?" She asked, confused as to what Brennaraki wanted her to do before realization dawned on her. Louise reached into her pocket and pulled out a collapsed Luxury Ball, priming and expanding it to full size.

"Welcome to the team, Fletchling," Louise stated, throwing the Luxury Ball towards the downed bird to capture it. Unfortunately, that did not happen, as the ball flew past the downed bird and hit a rock, bouncing back to beam Louise in the nose.

"Ow!" Louise held her nose, more irritated than in pain, glaring at the laughing Brennaraki. "Yes, ha-ha. Very funny." Louise grumbled before trying again, throwing the ball at the Fletchling. Again, she missed, as the ball hit the ground next to the Fletchling, who at this point was sporting an incredulous and annoyed expression on its face.

"Gagh!" Louise grunted, catching the ball with both hands as it bounced back to her. "Okay, this time…" Louise whispered to herself as she threw the ball again. Finally, she hit her mark as the Luxury Ball contacted the Fletchling, opening it and sucking the pleased looking Fletchling inside, with a small red light appearing on the ball.

"Come on. Work…" With baited breath, Louise and Brennaraki looked at the rocking Luxury Ball, hoping for a successful capture. After a few seconds, the ball stopped rocking and clicked shut, the red light disappearing. Tentatively, Louise walked to the ball, grasping it with both hands as she contemplated her actions.

"I caught a Pokémon!" Louise cheered, with her and Brennaraki jumping into the air in joy, only for her to finally take note of her surroundings once again upon noticing a distinct lack of battle going on around her.

Based on the distinct lack of Fletchlings, it appeared that the Combee Swarm had driven off the Fletchling Flock, and now the Swarm had surrounded her, neutral expressions on their faces. Sweat beginning to drip down, Louise took a step back before the space behind her was closed off, leaving her completely cut off from any escape routes.

"Uhh…hello?" Louise shakily greeted the swarm in a placating tone, to which the only response she received was blank stares. "Okay…I mean you all no harm. I was here before… all of this so if you can just let me go I'll-" Louise started before the swarm suddenly parted in front of her, leaving only one Combee in front of her. She recognized this Combee, as it had the red marking on its face. Unlike the others, it floated towards her, stopping in front of her face and smiled, before turning around and floating towards the forest. After going a few feet, the Combee stopped and turned around, motioning for Louise to follow it.

"Oh. OH, you want me to follow you?" Louise asked the bee, to which it nodded in reply. Looking at Brennaraki for guidance, the answer she received was a smile and began to walk after the Combee. Deciding to follow her starter's lead, Louise began walking after the fox, with the rest of the Combees following her, keeping a close eye at all times.

For several minutes, Louise and Brennaraki followed the Combee through the forest. Thankfully, the Combee had given Louise a chance to scan the freshly caught Fletchling. According to the scan, that the Fletchling was female and knew the moves Tailwind and Peck, with its Ability being Gale Wings. As they continued their trek through the woods, Louise began thinking of names for the small bird.

More Combee had joined them at this point, filling the forest air with their buzzing, before entering another clearing, one with a large oak tree in the center. That was not the main point of interest for Louise, though. That distinction belonged to the largest beehive she had ever seen. It was massive, taking up nearly half the tree itself to the point where it looked less like a hive and more an extension of the tree. A large gap was at its base and the red Combee stopped at it and smiled at Louise. Before Louise could inquire as to what was going on, a large and majestic creature emerged from inside the hive. It looked like a regal, humanoid bee, with a crown atop its head and a beehive dress. Two pairs of wings fluttered from its back, keeping it aloft. As it flew towards Louise, she pulled out her Pokédex and scanned the creature.

" _Vespiqueen, the Beehive Pokémon. Vespiqueens only evolve from female Combees and their dress serves as a hatchery for baby Combee,_ " the Pokédex stated aloud. With this new information, Louise finally realized what the importance of the red Combee was.

"I get it now. You're a female, the next Queen," Louise stated, with the red Combee nodding. The Vespiqueen, now in front of Louise, floated in place, the ruby red compound eyes staring into her soul, before motioning for some Combees to reach into her backpack.

"Hey! What are you-!" Louise yelled out in surprise. Before she could do anything, the Combees stopped what they were doing and pulled out several empty glass jars that Louise had stored in her backpack, giving them to the Vespiqueen. The Vespiqueen buzzed and ordered the other Combees to swarm them, which they did. Louise could not see what they were doing, but after a few minutes, the swarm cleared the jars and revealed their contents. No longer where they empty, but instead they were filled with rich, golden Honey. The Combees carefully lifted them and placed the jars back inside Louise's bag where they got them out from, as Louise stared at the Vespiqueen.

"I…I can't…thank you," Louise whispered in appreciation to the Vespiqueen, who nodded in approval before flying back inside the hive. The other Combees followed her inside, leaving the clearing devoid of all creatures except for Louise, her Pokémon, and the female Combee, who waved goodbye with its wing before heading back inside.

"Wow…" Louise whispered in wonder before noticing that the sky was beginning to darken. Deciding to head back to camp, Louise turned around and began the walk back. When they arrived, Louise decided to release the freshly caught Fletchling, intending to heal its wounds and get to know it better.

"Chirp!" The Fletchling cried out happily as it came out of the Luxury Ball, to which Louise smiled before turning around back to her backpack. To get the Full Restores, she had to pull out the honey jars. After grabbing the appropriate medicine, she turned around to apply it, only to notice the Fletchling trying to break inside the honey jars.

"Hey! Stop it!" She scolded, making the Fletchling stop what she was doing. The Fletchling slightly glared at Louise, but nevertheless complied. Louise sighed and looked at the Fletchling with exasperated mirth.

"You were after the honey the entire time, weren't you, Aile?" At the mention of the word Aile, the Fletchling looked up at her in slight confusion, along with Brennaraki. "Aile. Where I come from, it means 'Wing'. Like I told Brennaraki, I can't keep calling you 'Fletchling' now can I?" Louise smiled at the bird, who gained a look of contemplation before happily chirping its approval.

"Well, welcome to the team, Aile. Come on, let's get back to camp. We still have a few more days to go before we get to Santalune." With that, Louise, Brennaraki, and the Fletchling, now properly named Aile, made their way back to camp.

* * *

As Louise had predicted, a few days later the group finally arrived in Santalune City. A trip that was supposed to take two days but had instead taken a week. As Louise made her way into the Pokémon Center, people cleared out of her way as they took in the sight of a person who had slept outside in the wilderness for a week, with all the accompanying effects. Louise had never been so dirty in her life. Dirt and grime covered her body, staining her once pristine Academy shirt to the point where it would probably have to be washed if she had any hope for it to be saved. Her hair was frizzed and frayed after not having been cleaned in a week. But the worst was the smell. Louise _reeked_ , to the point where one could swear stink lines and clouds were coming off her. But Louise ignored all of that, walking into the Pokémon Center right up to the head nurse, who visibly gagged at Louise's stench.

"Showers are over there, along with the washing machines," the nurse, whose name according to the nametag was Joy, pointed to the back.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy," Louise grumbled out before handing over the Luxury Balls containing Brennaraki and Aile. "If you could heal them, I would very much appreciate it. I'm going to take a shower now. Thank you." With that, Louise lumbered towards the back, disappearing from view until the sounds of running water erupted out, coupled with the sounds of the washer. As Louise took in the hot water, she thought about the events of that week, her trek through Route 3, and the encounters she had. She, at that moment, was more concerned about finally being cleaned thoroughly scrubbed herself, washing away all the dirt and grime that once coated her body. Even after she was done with the shower, she continued to clean herself and her hair, turning it back into its rightful pristine condition. By the time she was done, the washer and dryer had fully cleaned her clothes, allowing her to feel whole again.

"Aah, thank you, Nurse Joy. Sorry for taking so long…" Louise thanked Nurse Joy, who merely smiled at her.

"Don't worry about it. Here at the Pokémon Center, we help those who are most in need. And, frankly… you needed it," Nurse Joy replied in a teasing tone.

"Don't remind me…" Louise whispered under her breath before moving on. "How are Brennaraki and Aile?"

"Your Fennekin and Fletchling are fine and at 100 percent. You take very good care of them," Nurse Joy congratulated Louise, handing over their Luxury Balls. As Louise attached the collapsed balls onto her belt, she looked back up at Nurse Joy with another question.

"I was hoping you could help me with something?" Louise tentatively asked Nurse Joy, who smiled at her and nodded. "I'm here to deliver something to a woman named Viola from Professor Sycamore. Do you know where I might find her?"

"Viola? Oh, you mean…Yes, I know where she is. You might not like the answer, though…"

"…just tell me," Louise sighed, closing her eyes in resignation.

* * *

As Louise stood at the edge of town, her eye twitched as she took in the scene in front of her. Apparently, Viola worked as a freelance photographer and liked to take pictures of Bug Pokémon and would frequently take trips into the nearby Santalune Forest to take such photographs. Apparently, she only left while Louise was taking her shower, and had walked into the Pokémon Center to give Nurse Joy her schedule for the day Had she not taken so long, she might have caught her in town. But alas, that was not meant to be.

"Okay, let's get this over with," Louise bit back a scream of rage as she begrudgingly entered the forest, with Brennaraki and Aile following behind her.

On the other side of Santalune Forest, where Route 2 went into the dark forest, a young boy stood at the threshold, his two Pokémon by his side. He was wearing a blue hoodie, a pair of worn jeans and black hiking boots, with a large, green hiking backpack atop his back.

"Okay. Ronin, Tanuki, you guys ready for this?" The boy asked his Pokémon, looking down at their blue, diminutive forms.

The two barked in reply before Tanuki hopped onto his shoulder, to which the boy only laughed. Ronin stoically remained on the ground, visibly having to hold itself back.

"Ha-ha! Well, the Kalos League might not be Unova, but we're still going to win it!" The boy yelled out with confidence as he walked into the forest.

* * *

Hello, everyone! Here's the next chapter of Outsiders! Once again, we appreciate all of the support. Now, onto answers.

 **PokemonFan93** : The Pokédex thing was admittedly an oversight, however Louise had been with Sycamore for three weeks and had not seen the Pokédex since.

 **ian25rebel** : Had Arceus not had Dialga do the time dilation, time would have operated on a 1:1 scale between the two universes. 1 day on Earth would have been 1 day on Terre, the name of the planet we are using that Louise originally came from.

 **D'reakmus** : Louise's team, along with Saito's, all follow a theme. As more Pokémon get caught, this theme will become more and more apparent.

 **MAJORMATT1234** : Saito is from Earth, which in this story is the Pokémon world. He is a native, and not from a third world.


	7. Season 1, Episode 2, Chapter 3

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)**  
 **Season 1, Episode 2, Chapter 2**

* * *

After an hour of walking through Santalune Forest, Louise had mixed feelings on the expedition so far. On one hand, it was easier than her trek down Parterre Way. Previously overburdened by the large hiking backpack, Louise wisely decided to only carry a small knapsack with some food, water, and medical supplies, along with the Beedrillite. The abundant trees provided ample shade from the sun, and coupled with a nice, cool breeze meant that she was kept cool, not hot and sweaty. There also weren't any flies and mosquitoes around to bug her, which brought up the other side of the issue.

So. Many. Pokémon.

Practically every five steps had Louise run into a Pokémon that she, Brennaraki, and Aile had to fight off. Just in the past hour, she had to fight off a few Caterpies, Metapods, Scatterbugs, and Fletchlings, not to mention all the Weedles and Kakunas, all of which she scanned with her Pokédex. On the bright side, she was getting some good training in, but it was getting annoying.

"Founder, why are there so many bugs!" Louise grunted, having driven off another Weedle who had attempted to get into her knapsack. She sighed, before making her way deeper into the forest.

"Ms. Viola! Are you there? I have something for you from Professor Sycamore!" She shouted out, hoping to get a human response but receiving none.

"Okay, this is getting us nowhere," she admitted, taking a sip of water to sooth her throat, sore from all the yelling she'd done. "Aile, can you fly around and try to find her, please?" Louise asked the Fletchling, who was currently perched on her shoulder and giving her an expectant look.

"Really, again? I just gave you some!" She scolded in exasperation.

Aile chirped and began jumping around in excitement. Louise sighed, before reluctantly kneeling down and opening up her knapsack, pulling out a slightly diminished jar of honey.

"You are the greediest bird I've ever seen, you know that?" Louise sighed, taking out a small spoon to feed Aile with. For the past hour, and indeed for the past few days since Aile's capture, Louise had gotten to know the bird much more intimately than their initial encounter would have suggested. As it turned out, Aile was quite the glutton. If Aile wanted something, she was going to get it, with everyone else's concerns secondary. For Louise to get her to do anything, she had to bribe Aile with something, usually the Combee honey.

"That's the last one today, got it? No more," Louise scolded, like a mother would to an unruly child. When Aile began to whine, Louise continued. "Uh-uh, no whining. Honey is desert, not a meal, got it?" Louise stated, lightly glaring at the small bird. When Aile didn't respond, Louise intensified her glare until finally Aile nodded in agreement, causing Louise to smile.

"Thank you, that wasn't so hard now, was it? Now, get going," Louise ordered, to which Aile took to the air and began conducting a search. "Founder, now I know how the cook felt." At this, Louise and Brennaraki followed after her, never losing track of the bird as it flew around.

"You know, Brennaraki. Take away all the hordes of Pokémon, and this forest isn't that bad. It's…tranquil, really," Louise mused, as they continued to search, only to trip on an exposed tree root and fall flat on her face. "I take it back, this place is awful!" She grumbled, hearing the familiar laughter of the small fox and bird. Despite her frustration, Louise soon began to laugh as well, joining her two Pokémon in their amusement.

* * *

After half an hour minutes of searching, with the sun lying directly overhead, and still no sign of the elusive photographer, Louise decided to take a short break to catch her breath and eat. Laying out some bowls with Pokémon food for Brennaraki and Aile, Louise gnawed on a meal bar, contemplating her next move.

"Okay, so we've been searching in this forest for roughly an hour and a half by now, and there is no sign of Viola," Louise stated, taking a bite out of her meal bar before continuing. "We still have a few hours before Viola told Nurse Joy she'd be heading back so we still have some time. Until then, are going to keep at it and search this forest until we find Viola and give her the Beedrillite, or the sun starts to go down, whichever comes first. Afterwards, we'll…" At this, Louise paused, causing Brennaraki to look up at her in concern.

"What will we do?" Louise asked herself. She had been so distracted the past few weeks, what with being Sycamore's assistant, bonding with Brennaraki, dealing with Elizabeth, and travelling cross country down Route 4, she hadn't really thought about the reason why she was here in the first place: to prove her worth to Arceus. She only had a year to prove herself, and she doubted that being Professor Sycamore's assistant for a year would prove herself worthy in his eyes, merely being a freeloader. No, she had to do something, prove that she was worthy of respect. But, if she didn't, she didn't know what would happen. Would she be allowed to go home, or would she be stuck here, permanently? Would be she allowed to keep Brennaraki and Aile?

As Louise sat in contemplation, Brennaraki and Aile continued to enjoy their fill, with Brennaraki growling at the bird as she attempted to help herself to the fox's bowl. Before any altercation could occur, Louise suddenly stood up and directed the Pokémon's attention toward her.

"Come on, let's find Viola. I would rather not be stuck in this forest for the next three hours," Louise signaled to Brennaraki and Aile, causing them both to jump off, ready to start searching again. "Now, I think at this point we can assume that what we are doing currently is not working. Aile, can you fly above the tree tops and search for a nearby clearing? That might be a good place to look," Louise ordered. Aile attempted to ask for another helping of honey but was quickly silenced with a glare. Grumbling to herself, Aile took flight and flew past the leaves of the trees until she was out of sight. Smiling, Louise began to follow Aile, with Brennaraki not far behind.

"See, there we go. That wasn't so hard now, was-and now I see the Sitrus Berries. Of course," Louise sighed, grasping her nose as she finally spotted the yellow spotted fruit, recognizing it from her time at Sycamore's lab. As it turned out, Aile had deliberately chosen the path towards some nearby Sitrus berries, and was gorging herself on them before noticing Louise's glare. Unashamedly, Aile took off again, this time fully intending to follow Louise's orders. After a few minutes, Aile came soaring back to Louise, having found a nearby clearing.

"Good job, Aile! Lead the way!" Louise exclaimed, quickly rushing after the Fletchling, with Brennaraki keeping up by her side. Soon enough, they reached the clearing, only to find it empty.

"Ms. Viola! Ms. Viola! Are you here!?" Louise shouted as they began to search around, upon hearing a yip from Brennaraki, Louise and Aile quickly made their way over to investigate. The fire fox had found a mud puddle with tracks leading out of it, almost as if someone had dumped a bucket of water onto the dirt and walked in it. "Viola was definitely here. It looks old, though," Louise stated, crouched down to get a better look at the shoe prints, before directing her gaze down its path. She found a series of muddy footprints leading off into the forest. Oddly, Louise noted, Viola had some pretty large feet for a lady. Regardless, Louise began following the trail of footprints, hoping to find their source, never realizing that she was being watched by scheming eyes.

* * *

After another half hour of following the trail, Louise was able to take in a picture of what Viola must have done. Based off some nearby damage Louise found along the trail, Viola also must have encountered many of the forest residents and had to drive them off. Based off the abundance of water and mud, she must also be a Pokémon trainer and have a Water type Pokémon on hand to protect herself. Regardless, Louise pressed on, only stopping to drive off the occasional Pokémon. Eventually, however, as they neared another clearing, the trail ran cold, and the foot prints stopped.

"Great... Just as they were getting fresher, too," Louise sighed before once again searching for more hints as to where Viola went. "Ms. Viola!" She shouted, before sighing when she didn't receive a response.

"Aile, see if you can-" She started to order when the sound of rustling leaves caught her attention, putting her, Aile, and Brennaraki on guard. Looking around, she searched for the source of the rustling before settling on a small patchwork of tree branches, shaking slightly. As she prepared to give an order, the inhabitant of the tree showed itself. It was a small, blue and black bipedal dog, with a black mask like patch on its face that ended on both sides with a large black drops that could almost be mistaken for ears. Its eyes shone bright red, and a small yellow collar was wrapped around its neck. Not recognizing the Pokémon, Louise quickly pulled out her Pokédex and activated the scan function.

" _Riolu, the Emanation Pokémon. Riolus, along with their evolution Lucario, are among the only species capable of channeling Aura. Their small bodies make mastery of Aura's offensive use exceedingly difficult, however exceptions have been noted,_ " the Pokédex spouted out.

"Aura? What is that? Is it similar to magic?" Louise asked herself before moving on, looking more closely at the data the Pokédex provided. Apparently, Riolus are not found in Santalune Forest, the closest being in Route 22, which meant that this Riolu was most likely a captured Pokémon. Deciding to trust her instincts, Louise decided to speak to the small canine. "Uh, Riolu…do you already have a trainer?" She asked to the creature, who silently nodded.

"I'm looking for a photographer named Viola. Do you know where I can find her?" Louise once again called out to the diminutive creature, who, after a moments pause, nodded in affirmation before beckoning her to follow it. "Great! Thank you so much!" Louise shouted back up to the Riolu as she walked over to it, its eyes never leaving her.

"You have no idea how much I appreciate you help with this. I have had a horrible week and-" Louise started thanking the Riolu before a small snap beneath her feet caught her attention, directing her, Aile's, and Brennaraki's gaze downward, only to see a broken string underneath her feet. "What…why is there a string here?" She asked herself before a clunking sound, coming from above her, caused their heads to look up. What they saw caused their eyes to shrink, as above their heads, connected to a now lax string, was a fairly large, hastily woven basket, filled with a wide assortment of berries. Unfortunately for them, it began to tip. Next to it, hanging upside down from a nearby branch, was a smirking Riolu, which finally clued Louise in to its intentions.

"You son of a-!" Louise began to shout as Aile tried to hastily get away, only to be caught up in the sudden downpour of Sitrus, Pecha, Rawst, and Oran berries. Louise shielded her head with her arms as she was bombarded by the berries, many of which burst open as they made contact, spilling their juices on her clothes, skin and hair. Once the downpour of berries stopped, Louise opened her eyes and took in the sight of her now multicolored stained clothes, along with a damp and sticky Brennaraki and Aile. As she looked back up in shock at Riolu, she found it now on top of the branch and rolling on its back, laughing as hard as it possibly could as it looked at her predicament, hard enough so that it was crying, causing her to begin shaking in indignant rage.

"How-HOW DARE YOU!" She shrieked at the Riolu, who simply got up and stuck its tongue out at her, pulling its eyelid down as it did so. "EMBER! PECK!" Louise shouted orders to Brennaraki and Aile, who happily complied, also furious at the Riolu. To her shock, the Riolu gracefully jumped over Aile and batted away the fireball with a metallic, glowing hand before making a three-point landing on the ground in front of Louise. As it looked back at her stunned expression, it smirked, turned around and shook its butt at her before running off deeper into the forest.

"After that stupid dog!" Louise shouted, chasing after the mischievous canine with Aile and Brennaraki following. As they chased the laughing Riolu, they would sporadically attempt to hit its retreating form with Embers and Pecks, only to have been be effortlessly dodged, even if it couldn't see where they were coming from. To its credit, Louise would begrudgingly admit it was well trained as it dodged another dive bomb and fireball, but she didn't care for that right now. This dog had humiliated her, and now she wanted it to pay. In her rage, she never noticed that the Riolu seemed to be enjoying the chase and was deliberately holding itself back.

After several minutes of chasing, attacking and dodging, the distance between the Riolu and Louise began to shorten enough so that she could almost grab it. Before she could, the Riolu took a sharp turn past a small grove of trees and ran into a clearing. Entirely focused on the Riolu, Louise took the turn as well, only to accidentally crash into another person, whom the Riolu ran behind. Louise could only make out that it was a boy before they made contact.

"Ooof!" The two of them grunted as they crashed into one another and tumbled, before coming to a rest and sprawled across the ground, with Louise lying on top of the boy. As she opened her eyes, she too in his white skin, blue eyes and black hair, with him looking at her pink eyes and hair, before a bright blush enveloped them as they finally took in the position they were in.

"Oh Founder/Arceus, I'm so sorry!" The two of them shouted as they apologized, hastily getting to their feet. As they brushed themselves off of the dust, they took a step back, the blush still adorned on their faces.

"Are you-Arceus, what happened to you?!" The boy shouted in concern, finally noticing the berry juice stains covering Louise's and her Pokémon's bodies. He quickly reached into his small backpack and pulled out a piece of cloth and handed it over. "Here."

"Thank you," Louise thanked the boy as she took the cloth, wiping her face, arms, and hands. As she did, she was able to take in more of his features. He was wearing a blue and white pull up hoodie-turtleneck, along with a pair of dark blue jeans, contrasting Louise's lighter pair. Unlike Louise, he was not wearing hiking boots, rather a pair of blue sneakers. Instead of a hiking backpack, his backpack was smaller, similar to a large, multi-pocketed school backpack with a blue Pokéball design on it. Realizing that she was staring, Louise quickly handed the cloth back to the boy, who simply stared at it in confusion before Louise realized her mistake, pocketing it.

"-sorry about that," Louise sheepishly apologized, looking off to the side in embarrassment.

"It's fine, it's fine. Don't worry about it. You okay?" The boy asked in concern.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking."

"What happened to you? You look like you just came out of an arts and crafts store."

"Well you see, I was-YOU!" Louise suddenly yelled as the Riolu poked its head out from behind the boy's legs, sticking its tongue out at her. "Gagh!" She grunted as she lunged for the Riolu, only to be held back by the boy.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down, calm down!" The boy grunted as he held Louise back. After a bit of struggle, she finally relented and ceased attempting to strangle the Riolu, stepping back to glare at it. "I think I understand what happened now. Tanuki, what did you do?"

"Your stupid dog dumped a basket full of rotten berries all over me and my Pokémon, that what it did!"

"Really, Tanuki?! We've been over this!"

"Bark!" The Riolu, now properly identified as Tanuki, crossed its arms and barked, pride evident in its face.

"Ugh, listen Miss…?" The boy started to apologize before stopping. "I don't we've actually said our names yet. I'm Saito Hiraga, you've already met Tanuki, and Ronin should be around here somewhere-there he is!" The boy, apparently named Saito, shouted out as he pointed towards the edge of the clearing at a small blue and white otter, wearing a scallop shell on its chest. Louise made a mental note to scan Ronin after she was done yelling at the boy in-front of her.

"I'm Louise Vallière," Louise coldly replied.

"Heh, well…Louise. I am terribly sorry about Tanuki here. He like to pull pranks. He's harmless, really," Saito said, attempting to placate Louise. Unfortunately, judging by her stormy expression, he failed.

"You're sorry!? That's not good enough! That dog of yours ruined my clothes! I don't think my shirt can be saved, you plebian!"

"Okay now, calm down. I know that we may have gotten off on the wrong foot here, but…" Saito started, only to get interrupted again by the enraged girl in front of him.

"Honestly, how can you call yourself a trainer if that dog keeps doing that!? If that is any indication of your training ability, you should be ashamed of yourself. 'Tanuki' needs to be trained better!" At this, Saito stopped and glared at Louise.

"Train him better? Lady, I don't know who you think you are, but do not tell me how to train my Pokémon!" Saito shouted right back, insulted.

"Oh, I sincerely doubt that you could control that thing!" Louse scoffed in disbelief.

"I have a Gym Badge! Earned with Ronin and Tanuki over in Unova! How many do you have?!" Saito shouted back indignantly. At this, Louise paused for a moment, reaching back in search of the familiar sounding word, only to come up blank.

"…I have absolutely no idea what a 'Gym Badge' is, but I sincerely doubt you are a better trainer than me!" Louise proudly declared.

"…What?" Saito asked in disbelief. Who didn't know what a Gym Badge was? Before he could ask that, Louise answered.

"In fact, I'll prove it! I challenge you to a battle!" At this statement, made with the utmost confidence, Saito went silent. As the silence went on, Louise smirked in apparent victory before Saito broke out into a confident smile.

"You're on!"

* * *

Hey, everyone! Here's the latest chapter of Outsiders! Louise and Saito have now met each other, and it went about as well as one might expect. What happens next will be revealed tomorrow. Now to answer questions:

 **D'reakmus** : Yep, you were spot on with Ronin and Tanuki. We all felt that an Oshawatt and Riolu fit him pretty well. But, what makes them unique are their personalities. Didn't expect to see a Bushido-Oshawatt and a Prankster-Riolu now, did ya? As for how I am posting these regularly, I am actually catching up to our other threads. Once we do, this will revert to a weekly publishing schedule.

 **PokemonFan93** : What we meant by blue Combee was not that their bodies were blue, but that there is a blue triangle on their face. Female Combees have the red triangle, which was a small change to help us better differentiate the two genders at a more noticeable glance.

 **Fate** : Brennaraki's name actually comes from Nordic languages. Louise's world of Terre, specifically the continent of Halkegenia, actually has a significant Nordic influence. Their religion is actually polytheistic and highly resembling the Norse pantheon. Brimir is considered to be a messiah like figure but is not actually worshipped. Due to all of this, we decided that Louise's nicknames would come from French and Nordic languages to reflect her cultural heritage. Saito is the same way, only his reflect his family's Kantoan heritage, which would be akin to Japanese in the real world. All of Louise and Saito's Pokémon will be nicknamed. Helps to make them their own characters. And thank you for the kind words. We appreciate it.

 **Meh** : Arceus is acting the way he does because of the very first time he ever encounter a Void mage. In this case, it was Brimir 6,000 years ago. That meeting went terribly wrong, and ever since then Arceus has had to with Void mages, and Void mages only, trying to do a summoning from his world, earning his ire. He doesn't intervene on Earth very much, only to make sure that things don't blow up, but he makes a special exception to Void mages. That is why he acted the way he did. He was incredibly biased against her from the very start.

 **MAJORMATT1234** : Part of our reasoning for including Saito was out of a desire to try and do him right. Most other stories, especially crossovers, don't even use him, and we wanted to try our hand in doing him in a way that wasn't making him into a complete tool. We hope everyone appreciates the attempts.

Hope you guys enjoy!


	8. Season 1, Episode 2, Chapter 4

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 2, Chapter 4**

* * *

"Last chance to back out, lady," Saito confidently yelled from across the clearing.

"I was about to ask you the same thing!" Louise retorted in a huff.

"Heh, I'm going to enjoy this. Come on out, Ronin!" Saito shouted, directing the Pokémon in question out onto the field. Deciding that she didn't want to go in blind, Louise pulled out her Pokédex, catching Saito's attention. "You have a Pokédex?" Saito's question went unanswered as the Pokédex sounded off.

" _Oshawatt, the Sea Otter Pokémon. Oshawatts use their Scalchop for both offensive and defensive purposes, and are crucial in the species survival_ ," the Pokédex informed Louise, who was looking at the basic species information.

"A Water type, huh? Explains the mud and water I found earlier... Wait, were those your tracks I was following?!" Louise shouted out in indignation.

"You were following my tracks?! What are you, a stalker?!" Saito remarked, both a little creeped out and intending to rile up the pinkette.

"What?! No! I was trying to-Aaagh! Aile, go!" Louise sputtered.

Aile cried out, flying onto the makeshift arena. This 'Ronin' might not be the Riolu that humiliated her, but she could at least take her anger out on him. To her and Louise's surprise, and Saito's exasperation, the Oshawatt proceeded to respectfully bow before readying himself for combat. In the meantime, the two trainers paused before shouting out their commands.

"Aile, Tailwind! /Ronin, Water Gun!" The two ordered to the awaiting ears of their Pokémon. Aile quickly began flapping, generating a constant gust of wind from behind, allowing her to quickly dodge the sudden burst of water Ronin released. The bursts of water kept coming, forcing Aile to constantly dodge the incoming attacks.

"Aile, dive down and use Peck!" Louise shouted just as another burst of water shot out, which Aile swiftly dived underneath, aiming to beam Ronin in the head. As more bursts of water shot out towards her, Aile began rolling, nimbly avoiding any water, before finally nearing her target at maximum speed.

"Block it!" Saito voice suddenly rang out. Ronin, to Aile's shock, quickly removed his scalchop from his chest and swung it upwards, redirecting Aile's momentum away from himself at the last moment and halting the bird in her tracks. Before Louise could respond, Saito voice rang out again. "Air Slash!" The upward scalchop swiftly came crashing down, sending a slice of compressed air directly into Aile at point blank range, sending her flying backwards into the dirt.

"Aile!" Louise shouted in worry as Aile rolled back across the ground. When Aile used the momentum to launch herself back into the air, Louise sighed in relief before issuing another order. "Okay, fly around back and use Peck again!"

Hearing her trainer's command, Aile boosted around in a wide bank, flying past any slices of air sent her way before initiating another dive bomb. As she neared her target, Ronin prepared his scalchop once again, only for Louise's voice to suddenly ring out.

"Fly just above then attack from its back!" Aile immediately complied, barely missing Ronin's head before quickly flipping in midair and speeding towards the exposed and defenseless back of the surprised otter. Caught off guard, Ronin was unable to react in time and received a direct hit, sending him to the floor as Aile swiftly flew back up into the air.

Saito gave a small smile that was matched by Ronin as Ronin flipped back onto his feet. "Not bad, but not good enough! Ronin, run and gun!" Saito shouted out, impressed with the rookie's performance so far. Ronin, also becoming impressed, began running, firing off bursts of water and slices of air in rapid succession towards the dodging bird, practically forming a cage of wind and water around her and preventing escape.

"Aile, get out of there!" Louise shouted, recognizing the danger she was in, only for her alarm to increase as the Tailwind died down. Without the added speed boost the Tailwind provided, Aile slowed down considerably, leaving her open to a double hit of water and compressed air. The force of the hits proved to be too much, sending her crashing into the ground once again. This time, she did not get up.

"Aile!" Louise yelled before pulling out her Luxury Ball, returning the knocked out bird to the safe confines of the ball. "How did-?"

"Tailwinds die down, eventually! Surely a 'skilled' trainer such as yourself would have realized that!" Saito mocked.

"Grrrh, go Brennaraki!" Louise grunted out, send Brennaraki onto the field. This was not a good situation at all for her. Taking Brennaraki, a Fire type, up against Ronin, a Water type, put her at a severe disadvantage, but she was determined to see this through to the end. To her and Brennaraki's shock, a red beam shot out and impacted Ronin, returning him to his Pokéball. At Louise's confused look, Saito grinned.

"What? I said switching was allowed. Come on out, Tanuki!" Saito taunted, directing the canine into the clearing. Rather than run out, Tanuki jumped from Saito's shoulder in a flip, twirling in the air before landing on his feet, eyes closed shut. At the sight of the Riolu, Louise's eyes narrowed.

"You…Brennaraki, use Ember!" Louise ordered in a rage. Brennaraki, itching for some payback, began firing salvo after salvo of fireballs at the canine. As the fireballs neared Tanuki, he suddenly leaned far back, making the fireballs shoot wide above him. After they passed, he once again stood upright, a smirk adorning his face as he finally opened his eyes.

"You said that Tanuki isn't well trained? Well, we're about to prove you wrong!" Saito shouted, his arms crossed.

"As if that mangy dog could be properly trained! Brennaraki, get in close and fire an Ember!" At Louise's command, Brennaraki began charging towards Tanuki, firing off fireballs as she did so.

"Tanuki, charge!" Tanuki, to Louise's surprise, actually began running towards the charging fox. As each fireball neared Tanuki, he gracefully dodged each one in rapid succession with a rapid series of jumps, slides and spins, before the two finally met and quickly descended to a melee brawl.

Brennaraki, using her fangs and claws, began relentlessly attacking the canine, getting some good hits in. Tanuki, however, deflected most of the blows with his arms and legs, not to mention getting some rapid punches and kicks in for good measure. Seeing the battle starting to go against her, Louise desperately wracked her brain for a plan.

"Brennaraki- Umm Tackle him!" Louise shouted, desperate. Brennaraki quickly complied, kicking a punch away from Tanuki before tackling him to the ground, with her on top. "Ember!" As the fireball formed in the fox's mouth, Tanuki's eyes shrunk as he struggled to get her off, but was unable to successfully do so as his head became engulfed in fire.

"Tanuki!" Saito shouted out in concern. "Quick, use-!" Before Saito could manage to finish his order, Tanuki managed to rear his legs and violently kicked the fox off of his body, while he rolled backwards onto his feet. As she struggled to push herself back up, Tanuki, rather than wait for Saito's orders, rapidly sped towards the downed fox, faster than Louise could track. Tanuki, moving with such high speed, hit Brennaraki with tremendous force, slamming her into the ground hard enough for her to bounce. Before she could reach the top of her bounce, Tanuki performed a sideways spin jump, his paw outstretched and glowing, before delivering a brutal punch directly into Brennaraki's gut, slamming her back onto the ground. This time, she did not even attempt to get back up.

"Brennaraki!" Louise yelled out in alarm, running onto the field to check on her downed starter as Tanuki ran back to his beaming trainer.

"Tanuki, what did I say about doing things on your own?" Saito slightly scolded the small, who only gave a small shrug in response. Saito then smirked at his Pokémon's antics, and knelt down. "Well, can't argue with the results. Good job, Tanuki," Saito congratulated his Pokémon before standing up straight once more.

"So, I think we can assume that I'm not a bad trainer, aren't I?" Saito asked with expectation. When he didn't receive a response, he turned to look at Louise, only to see her pathetically holding the knocked out form of her beloved Pokémon. Concern began to form in the pit of Saito's stomach as he looked upon her, which only amplified when Tanuki began tugging at his pant leg while pointing at her, directing him to offer help. Deciding to heed the advice of his Pokémon, he quietly walked over to her.

"Hey, you okay?" Saito asked in clear concern, kneeling down to get a closer look.

"Why do you care?" Louise barked back, humiliated over the loss.

"Because I do, that's why. Let's patch your Pokémon up, okay?" Saito replied, holding out his hand to help Louise up to her feet. After a moment's hesitation, Louise slowly offered her hand in kind, allowing Saito to help her to her feet. Saito carefully took hold of Brennaraki and laid her down on the ground before pulling out some small packets of powder. Opening up Brennaraki's mouth, he gently poured the powder inside.

"…I'm sorry," Louise whispered, embarrassed beyond belief at the turn of events.

"For what?" Saito replied as he continued to check on Brennaraki, who was now beginning to stir.

"…for saying you were a bad trainer."

"It's fine, really. In hindsight…you were obviously venting. Rough week?"

"Something like that," Louise admitted. When Brennaraki's eyes slowly revealed themselves, she excitedly pushed Saito aside, receiving a "Hey!" that she paid no heed as she hugged the revived fox, while at the same time pulling out a Full Restore. "Brennaraki! Are you okay?."

"Okay, just push me aside, no big deal-wait. You're a rookie. Why do you have Full Restores? And for that matter, how did you get a Pokédex?" Saito inquired, prepping another packet for Aile.

"I got my Pokédex from Professor Sycamore. As for the Full Restores, I bought them. I only get the best, after all," Louise admitted, releasing Aile from her Luxury Ball, allowing Saito to administer what she assumed to be a Revive. She made a mental note to bring some along next time.

"…then why did you get Luxury Balls and not Ultra Balls?"

"What do you mean? Luxury Balls are best type of Pokéball there are, that's what the Poké-Mart Supercenter in Lumiose said."

"Luxury Balls are the most expensive type of Pokéball there are but their only benefit is that they are more comfortable than other ball types. Besides that, they are about as useful as standard Pokéballs. If you really wanted the best type of ball, you should have gotten Ultra Balls. Who told you that Luxury Balls were the best?" Saito inquired, confused as to Louise's spending habits. At this point, Aile had woken up and had a Full Restore already administered. At the reveal of this new information, Louise grew silent.

"It was the store attendant. I got separated from Professor Sycamore and… That lying red-haired… She lied to me, didn't she!? So I would spend more money!?" Louise angrily shouted out.

"It appears so. Sorry," Saito apologized as Louise continued to rage, slightly amused before continuing on. "So, what exactly are you doing out here, anyway?" Saito asked, giving Louise a chance to calm herself down before she answered.

"I'm on an errand for Professor Sycamore."

"I assume that's where you got the Pokédex and the Fen-Brennaraki, from?"

"You would be correct. I…fell into his care a few weeks back and became his assistant. A week ago he asked me to deliver something to a person in Santalune. When I got here, she had apparently gone into the forest, and rather than wait for her to return decided to come in myself. Clearly a smart decision…" Louise grumbled out the last part.

"Doesn't it take only three days to go south down Parterre Way?" At seeing Louise's annoyed look, Saito wisely decided to move on. "So, what are you delivering and who is it for?" After a few seconds, Louise pulled took her knapsack off and opened it before pulling out a spherical gem.

"Is that a Mega Stone?" Saito asked, amazed at the sight. He had never actually seen one this close before, but he knew what they did.

"According to the Professor, it's a Beedrillite. I'm supposed to deliver it to a person named Viola, who apparently is some sort of photographer."

"Wait…Viola, as in the Gym Leader of Santalune? That's who you're delivering the Beedrillite to?"

"…what's a Gym Leader?" Louise asked, confused.

"You're kidding, right?" Seeing Louise shake her head, Saito sighed before answering. "A Gym Leader is a League certified trainer who runs and operates a city's Pokémon Gym. You go in, challenge the Gym Leader and have a battle. If you win, they give you a Gym Badge, certifying that they felt you were qualified enough to earn it. Most of the time. Sometimes they hand them out for other reasons, but those are rare nowadays. Viola is the Gym Leader of Santalune City, specializing in Bug types. She also has a job as a photographer for the Lumiose Press."

"Why didn't anyone tell me that?"

"My guess is that they assumed you knew, it's common knowledge."

"Ugh, that's…great to hear."

"Frankly I'm surprised you didn't know," Saito admitted, rubbing the top of his head. At this point, the two of them stood up, their Pokémon following suit. "Is that why you were chasing after Tanuki?"

"Yes, the little… I asked him if he knew where I could find Viola and he said he did. Then, he dumped a basket of berries all over me, which lead to…this." Louise admitted, glaring at the canine. "Apparently, your Riolu likes to lie to people."

"I…don't think he actually lied to you. Tanuki likes to pull pranks, but he's never actually lied before. Tanuki, you know where Viola is?" Saito asked his Pokémon, who quickly nodded before pointed out towards the forest. "Ahh, so Tanuki saw her over there, somewhere…that's not much to go on, bud."

"It's better than what I had before. Thank you, really. Sorry about that whole-…thing. You didn't deserve that. We're going to head that way. I guess I'll…see you later," Louise thanked Saito, walking off in the direction Tanuki pointed towards. As she walked away, Saito felt another pull at his pant leg. Looking down, he saw Ronin, who had apparently released himself from his Pokéball, and Tanuki looking upwards at him, expectedly.

"What?" Saito asked, confused.

The two of them barked an answer, pointing after Louise's form.

"Go after her? Look, guys, I know you mean well, but this isn't our concern. Our concern is getting to Lumiose for our next Gym Badge. We were lucky enough to have our Unova badge get accepted here and I don't-" Saito replied before hearing a small crash towards the edge of the forest. Turning towards it, he saw that Louise had tripped over an exposed tree root, and judging by her reaction this was not the first time. Looking back down at his Pokémon, the two of them stared, each sporting an up ticked eyebrow before nodding their heads towards Louise's form. "Arceus…" Saito sighed, jogging up to Louise, who was picking herself back up and speaking in some foreign language of some sort.

"Hey, listen. For all we know, Viola might not be in the same spot as before. Tanuki here, though, can sense Aura. How about I come along and help you find her?" Saito offered.

"…why?"

"Frankly, you look like you'll get lost and there's only a few hours left of daylight," Saito responded with brutal honesty, only to receive a silent, enraged glare back. "…I could have worded that batter, couldn't I?"

"I'm not even going to respond to that. Thanks, but no thanks," Louise barked back before walking off, grumbling.

"Wait, wait, hold up," Saito hastily called out, running in front of an annoyed Louise. "That came out wrong. Seriously, let me help. This will go a lot faster with two people and four Pokémon, don't you think?" At this, Louise stared back at him in slight annoyance. Before she could retort, Brennaraki yipped at her, barking a command.

"What?" Louise whispered to her starter. After receiving another yip and walking over to Saito's feet, Louise got the message. "No, absolutely not. I can do this on my own! We don't need his help!" She angrily stated, only to receive another yip in response, coupled with a chirp from Aile.

"Aaagh, fine! My Pokémon seem convinced that we need your help, so…I graciously accept your offer of assistance," Louise reluctantly accepted.

"Okay then, let's-" Saito started, preparing to follow Tanuki into the woods before being stopped by Louise stepping in front of him.

"This is only a temporarily thing, understand? We are not suddenly 'travelling partners' or some other nonsense. You help me find Viola, then we can go on our separate ways. Okay?" Louise demanded, finality in her voice.

"Fine by me. Come on, let's follow Tanuki. He'll lead the way," Saito affirmed, slightly peeved at her behavior. The status of their temporary partnership confirmed, the two followed the diminutive form of Tanuki deeper into the forest, determined to find Viola and finally put an end to this leg of the journey.

* * *

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Louise has had her first proper battle, and it went about as well as one might expect in that she lost. Their first meeting still isn't going entirely for the best, but then again neither did canon. Now, onto review answers:

 **D'reakmus** : Your analysis for why we chose their Pokémon is spot on. While the Pokémon that they will get are set in stone, each of them were chosen because they fit a certain aspect of Louise and Saito's canon personalities or roles. As for Louise being a tsundere, that is a core part of her personality so it will stay. Just not the 'exploding or whipping' kind. No such physical actions will occur. It will only be via words and body language. As for Saito, that desire to see a relationship between them that was not defined by master and servant was one of the reasons why we included him. We felt it would be unique to show. As for the weekly update schedule, we will try to keep to it as much as possible, but sometimes it will not happen, unfortunately. If that does happen, we do plan on showing something, such as an omake.

Well, we hope you guys enjoy the chapter and a taste as to how battles will work in the future. They are an important part of Pokémon after all.


	9. Season 1, Episode 3, Chapter 1

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 3, Chapter 1**

* * *

As Saito and Louise continued to follow the diminutive form of Tanuki, an uncomfortable silence befell them. Saito frequently stole glances back at Louise, only to see her frowning in frustration. If he had to guess, it appears she still hadn't quite forgiven him for the humiliating loss she suffered at his hands. Likely, it was her first loss. Before the silence had started getting oppressive, Saito spoke up.

"So…you know Professor Sycamore, huh?" Saito asked Louise, attempting to at the very least start up a conversation. When she didn't respond, he decided to continue. "How'd you meet him? Must have left a good impression if he decided to give you a Pokémon and a Pokédex."

"…yes, I know him," Louise finally spoke up. "As I told you before, I fell into his care a few weeks back and became his assistant. Apparently, you weren't paying attention."

"Yeah…sorry. Just trying to…anyway, what was it like working with him?"

"…it was…nice. He was kind, understanding, and a little boneheaded at times. If it weren't for the…never mind. Point is, I enjoyed my time there, especially more than my time since then." Louise admitted. Saito, however, noticed the slip up that Louise almost had, but, recognizing that this was probably a personal matter for her, wisely avoided the topic. "What about you?"

"Well, I wasn't an assistant, but I did get to meet Professor Juniper. That's how I got Ronin and my Pokédex here."

"You have a Pokédex, too? Can I see?"

"Yeah, sure." Saito complied, pulling out his blue Pokédex. Unlike Louise's model, which was more of a collapsible tablet, Saito's Pokédex looked more like one of those "smartphones" Louise had heard so much about. It was much smaller than hers, able to fit into the palm of one's hand. "It has all the features of the Kalosian Pokédex, and it can also do phone calls."

"Huh. I don't think mine can do phone calls, but I think it can do video calls. That's the same thing, right?"

"Uhh, yeah. Yeah, it kinda is..." Saito answered, while also wondering just what cave this girl crawled out of. Again, an uncomfortable silence befell the two, only to be broken by a yip from Brennaraki, who was currently chatting with Ronin. If Saito had to guess, Ronin was giving the fire fox some battle tips. Aile, meanwhile, hopped from tree to tree, going after the multitude of berries that grew in abundance.

"…how'd you get them? Ronin and Tanuki, I mean?" Louise asked, gazing down at the two Pokémon chatting away.

"Well, with Ronin, I got him from Professor Juniper. Tanuki was the first Pokémon I caught on my own. They're kinda long stories, you sure you want to hear them?" Saito asked, only to receive a stare from Louise in response.

"Yes, thank you."

"Well, with Ronin, I had to go through the standard process most trainers undertake when they get a starter from a Regional Professor. I'm assuming that didn't happen to you?" She shook her head, to which Saito nodded in slight understanding.

"Unless you know the professor, it's a very complicated process, involving interviews, questionnaires, and even a test, one that I barely passed…" Saito whispered that last part before moving on. "After that, you meet the professor, and if they say you are good to go, you choose a starter. If not, you don't get one."

"I take it that Ronin was your starter?" Louise guessed.

"Yeah. Ronin and I just…clicked, really. Kinda like you and Brennaraki, I assume," Saito looked out at the small fox, still excitedly talking to his starter.

Louise smiled at this. "Yeah, I guess so. What about Tanuki?"

"Well, Tanuki is a bit of an interesting case. You see, near Flocessy Town, over in Unova, there a ranch that bared the same name. Flocessy Ranch was home to many different species of wild Pokémon, one of which were Riolus. Just like Tanuki, whom I met while I was there."

"So, you battled then proceeded to catch him?"

"No... It's funny, really. He and I met the same way you two met."

"He dumped a basket of rotten berries on you, too?"

"Close. It was a bucket of water, actually."

"…then came the battle, right?"

"Actually…I called him an amateur and said I could do better." Saito sheepishly admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. Louise only glared at him in mild disappointment.

"…go on," She commanded.

"Well, long story short, we… ended up engaging in a prank war that ended with him and I turning an entire Bouffalant herd pink and being chased off the ranch by very angry and very pink bovines, along with very pink ranch hands." Saito declared with a hint of pride, holding back a few laughs.

Louise simply stared. "You…turned an entire herd…pink?"

"Yep. Have to say, I'm quite proud of that one," Saito admitted, puffing out his chest just a little. Louise continued to stare in silence before she pinched her nose in frustration, disappointment, and exasperation all at once and sighed.

"Anyway," Saito began, attempting to get the conversation back on track, "afterward, Tanuki decided to stick around, - and we've been together ever since. What about you? How'd you get Brennaraki and Aile?"

"Seems fair to tell you," Louise answered after recomposing herself. "Well, Aile's the simple one. I caught her when she was attempting to hunt some Combees for their honey. She…still hasn't quite forgiven me for that, and if I want her to do anything I have to bribe her with the aforementioned honey."

"Wait, you have actual Combee honey? **"** Saito inquired. "I've never had some. May I?"

"I don't see why not," Louise declared, pulling out a honey jar and spoon, and attracting the attention of Aile, who quickly flew down to her. "Aile, no! I said no! No more today!" Louise shouted at the bird attempting to steal a morsel of honey. Dejected and angry, Aile resumed her berry harvest. "Honestly, that bird…here."

Saito quickly took the offered spoon and took it into his mouth. "Mmph. This is good." Saito looked back at Louise and motioned for her to continue.

"Thank you. As for Brennaraki, that is a bit more…complicated. You remember that I was Professor Sycamore's assistant, right?"

"Mmph-hmph" Saito answered, spoon still in his mouth.

Louise grimaced at Saito's improper manners but decided to move on rather than bring more attention to it. "Anyway, while I was there, I eventually met Brennaraki, who at the time didn't really trust people. I'm sure you noticed that she is a Shiny, correct?"

"I was going to ask about that-."

"Well, you see, this posed quite a bit of a problem. As you can imagine, Shiny Pokémon are quite rare, and with Brennaraki being a Shiny Starter, and a female for that matter…"

"Sycamore had every breeder in the region scrambling over each other to get her," Saito finished her statement, correctly guessing the rest of what Louise was going to say.

"Indeed. People from all over Kalos came to Sycamore attempting to buy her, offering enormous sums of money to do so. Fortunes, really."

"But Brennaraki didn't want that, I take it?"

"No, she did not. She wanted to battle, and thankfully Professor Sycamore recognized that and refused their offers every time. The ones that got further in were quickly rejected by Brennaraki, who after a while came to believe that anyone that wanted her, wanted her simply because of her different coloring, to be a trophy and paraded, just to show off how wealthy they were…" Louise ranted. Saito sensed that this was an uncomfortable topic for her, and wisely decided to move on.

"So, why did Brennaraki choose you?"

"After I first met her, we bonded over the course of a week. I…sympathized with her situation, and I think she recognized that. But, we didn't truly become partners until a week after I first met her."

"What happened?"

"A…particularly determined collector, after she was refused by Professor Sycamore, decided that she wouldn't take no for an answer, and stole Sycamore's spare key. That night, while I was doing some work for him, she broke in and attempted to make off with Brennaraki's Pokéball. I caught her during the attempt and stopped it, even giving Brennaraki commands. Her stupid rat did bite me, however."

"Ooh, where'd they get you?"

"Just in the leg. It wasn't too bad but it did leave a scar. Afterward, Sycamore banned her from the lab, fixed up my wound, and then allowed me to keep Brennaraki. We've been together ever since."

"That's…impressive. I guess right after this was right before you're errand?"

"That is correct. Just need to deliver this Mega Stone to Viola, and then…" Louise trailed off.

"Participate in the Pokémon League, right?" Saito guessed.

"…what's the 'Pokémon League', exactly? It's some kind of governing organization, right?"

"… You're kidding me, right? Seriously, you don't know what the Pokémon League is?" Saito asked in absolute wonder. When she shook her head, he closed his eyes and sighed. "What rock did you…never mind. Okay, you remember when I said that Viola was a Gym Leader, right?"

"Yes. League sanctioned trainer, runs a Gym, you challenge them, get a badge, that's it?"

"… Not exactly. Yes, you get a badge from beating a Gym Leader. But, that isn't the whole story. Basically, a Gym Badge serves as a marker for your progress as a trainer. If you get eight of them, you are allowed access to the annual Pokémon League Tournament. Trainers from all over the region come together to compete and whoever wins gets crowned Champion."

"Huh," Louise hummed to herself, contemplating Saito's words before looking up at him with a strange look in her eyes. "So, you win the league, and become Champion of the Region?"

"Actually, there is a difference between the Pokémon League Champion and the Regional Champion" Saito correct. "After a trainer wins the Pokémon League, they get the opportunity to officially challenge the Elite Four. If a person beats them, they get to challenge the Regional Champion, the strongest trainer in the entire region. If the Regional Champion is defeated, the Pokémon League Champion becomes the Regional Champion."

"Hmm…" Louise pondered. "Who are the Elite Four and Champion of Kalos?"

"Well, the current Champion of Kalos is Diantha Carnet, an actress actually. From what I can tell, a very good and successful one. In terms of the Kalos Elite Four, that's-…complicated."

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"You really don't know, do you?" Saito sighed and started shaking his head. "How long have you been in Kalos, by any chance?"

"Around a month, why?"

"I guess he didn't tell you" Saito whispered to himself. "...do you know who Team Flare is?" Saito asked in a tone that told Louise plainly that this was a serious topic. When she shook her head, he continued.

"Team Flare was…a terrorist group, led by Lysandre Fleur. They believed that the Earth had become 'ugly' and needed to be cleansed. To accomplish this goal, they used the power of Mega Evolution and the Legendary Pokémon Zygarde to create a weapon that could wipe out the population of entire regions if left unchecked." Saito paused at this and clenched his fist in anger before calming himself and moving on.

"About a year ago, during the Pokémon League Tournament's ending ceremony, Team Flare attacked Lumiose with a mind-controlled Zygarde and the weapon. By the time they were finally stopped, property damage was in the millions, hundreds were injured and a couple of people died, it was a complete disaster. Afterwards, there was an investigation that took months. The ensuing scandal took even longer.

"What happened?" Louise gasped, horrified at what Saito was telling her.

"It turned out that one of Team Flare's highest-ranking officers was Malva Pachira, a highly influential reporter and, most importantly, a member of Kalos' Elite Four, although she defected during the actual assault, participated in the planning of the attack and the cover-up of Team Flare's previous actions."

"Founder…"

Briefly pausing at the odd phase Louise had used, Saito continued. "Yep. It was a colossal scandal that nearly destroyed the League's credibility in Kalos."

"What happened to Malva?"

"She offered to resign from her post, but ultimately the courts found that, although she did help Team Flare's plans, she did ultimately help to stop Lysandre's madness and prevented a lot of deaths. As such, she simply got probation."

"What about the rest of the Elite Four?"

"The rest were completely acquitted and had nothing to do with Team Flare's actions. But, ultimately the damage was done. It got so bad, there almost wasn't even a League Tournament this year"

"That's just…wow…" Louise trailed off, unable to fully form the words.

"Yeah..." Saito looked out into the forest. "… Worked to my benefit, at least. They were so desperate for trainers to participate that they accepted my Unovan Gym Badge, meaning I already have one of out the eight. Normally, that doesn't happen. Although, it probably helped that I only had the one…"

"So… When does this Pokémon League actually occur?" Louise asked, hoping to shift the discussion away from this uncomfortable topic.

"At the end of the current League Season, so in about eleven months."

"I take it that you plan on participating?"

"Yep." Saito quickly answered, pulling out his badge case and opening it, revealing a gold pin with purple squares and rectangles in its center. "This is my Basic Badge. Got it by beating the Gym Leader of Aspertia City with Ronin and Tanuki."

"Wait, I just realized something. If you already have a Gym Badge from Unova…why are you doing the rest in Kalos? You just said that doesn't usually happen." As the words left Louise's mouth, a silence descended upon the group as Saito suddenly stopped, along with his Pokémon. "Look, if you don't want to talk about it—" Louise offered, attempting to avoid the obviously uncomfortable topic, only to be waved off by Saito.

"No, no, it's fine… I…" Saito trailed off, attempting to form the right words. "… I actually started late compared to everyone else."

"Late? What do you mean?" Louise raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"I've…only been a trainer for about two months…"

"I don't…see how that is an issue. So, you're a beginner like me, what's the problem with that?"

"… Most start out when they are ten. I didn't start until I was seventeen, which was two months ago." Saito admitted, with embarrassment clearly heard and avoiding eye contact.

"… People send ten-year-old children out unsupervised with Pokémon?" Louise could barely believe Saito's words, the concept so alien to her. "What kind of irresponsible…"

"That's what my parents thought as well. They refused to let me undertake a Pokémon journey until I was older and more capable. Not to say I don't understand, but when you see everyone else your age talking about their adventures while you had to stay home over the summer and read books about Pokémon rather than train them yourself…"

"You felt left out," Louise finished Saito's sentence. "Like you didn't belong."

"Yeah…" Saito trailed off, a silence once again descending on the group. "As for why I'm doing the rest of my journey in Kalos and not Unova…my parents had to move to Vaniville Town due to their job right after I started my journey, and I had to come with them." Saito admitted, frustration creeping into his voice.

"I guess that makes sense," Louise didn't fully understand why Saito would be frustrated by that, but before she could go further Saito cut in.

"Well, I think we've wasted enough time. Let's get going, shall we?" Saito suggesting, perhaps a bit hastily.

"I think you're right. Tanuki, is Viola still there?" Louise agreed, gently asking the diminutive canine to see for them once again. Tanuki quickly closed his eyes and concentrated, before nodding his head.

"Weird how she's just staying in one place after all this time. Must be doing her photography," Saito suggested. "Well, either way, let's get going. The sooner we find Viola, the sooner we get out of here." At that, the duo continued, moving deeper into the dark forest.

As they continued along, the two trainers and their Pokémon felt another silence descend upon them. Although not to the extent of being awkward, it was uncomfortable. Saito, not wanting the silence to get to that point, prepared to speak, only to be beaten to the punch by Louise herself.

"Can I ask you something?" Louise softly asked, her face flushed with embarrassment.

"Yeah, sure. Shoot," Saito, slightly worried, replied.

"…how bad was I?" Saito blinked his eyes at Louise a few times.

"How bad? What do you mean?"

"The battle? How bad was I?" Louise clarified, irritation starting to build once more.

"Oh, that's… Honestly, not that bad for a rookie. Better than when I first started, at least."

"Don't patronize me!" Louise stomped her foot in annoyance, making Saito raise up his hands in a placating manner.

"I'm not, honestly! You've should have seen me when I first started. I was terrible!"

"Of course…" Louise replied, not believing the boy, who awkwardly smiled and rubbed the back of his head.

"But, that isn't to say I wasn't helped by your mistakes. For starters, you only used one move. What moves do Brennaraki and Aile know, by any chance?"

"Well…Brennaraki knows Ember and Magic Coat, and Aile knows Tailwind and Peck."

"Right, there's your problem. You are limiting yourself to only one attack. That may work against Wild Pokémon, who for the most part are untrained. It may even work against inexperienced Trainers. But against observant Trainers and Pokémon, that limitation would quickly get picked up on and exploited for all its worth. You became predictable, almost."

"Really?"

"But, when you changed things up, and didn't stick to a pattern, you got some good hits in."

"Okay, that's…good at least. Any…advice?"

"Hmm, I would say…increase your move pool. Trainers normally teach their Pokémon about eight moves. Any more than that, and it usually becomes difficult to keep in practice," Saito advised, his finger outstretched to emphasize his point to an attentive Louise. "I recommend filling those up with a nice balance of different moves, both offensive and defensive."

"I…see. Thanks for the advice," Louise thanked Saito, smiling.

"No problem."

* * *

A few hours later, and with the sun the beginning to set, Louise was starting to worry that they would have to turn back before they found Viola. Apparently, Viola's present location was deep in Santalune Forest. A periodic check from Tanuki confirmed that Viola was staying in one place, but to Louise that was merely a consolation.

"How close are we to Viola?" Louise grumbled, frustrated at their apparent lack of progress.

"I don't know. Tanuki, think you can manage another look?" Saito asked the canine. Stopping in his tracks, Tanuki took a deep breath and closed his eyes, concentrating on the task at hand, exhaustion slowing him down considerably. "Take your time, buddy. Don't over exert yourself."

"How long is this going to take?" Louise was growing more impatient and was now glaring at Saito.

"Well, given the fact that we've done this exact same thing twenty times now, Tanuki is tired. It's going to take a bit," Saito barked back. "What I don't get is why you insist on looking for her still. It's getting late, and it'll be dark soon. Besides, even if we decided to keep going, it's not like she's going anywhere. She hasn't moved from that spot in hours." Before Louise could retort, Tanuki opened his eyes, breathing deeply, and pointed to his right. Shortly ahead was a small clearing, with a large tree in its center.

"Finally!" Louise exclaimed, figuring that this is where Viola was staying. She followed the outstretched arm, not noticing Tanuki rapidly begin to pale. "Now I can-" Any words that Louise had were quickly replaced by an "OOF!" as she was suddenly tacked by Saito to the ground behind a bush, with Ronin, Tanuki, and Brennaraki quickly following suit.

"WHAT ARE YOU-!?" Louise began to shout before Saito quickly covered her mouth with his hand.

"Quiet! They'll hear you!" Saito ordered her in a whisper, clearly terrified. Confused, Louise looked around, only to see the source of his fear hanging from the tree in the clearing's center. A hive, similar in size to the one she met the Vespiqueen in. As she looked closer, she quickly realized that this was not a Combee hive at all. Instead of swarms of Combee flying about, dozens of Kakunas and Weedles hung around the hive, either lying still or scourging for food. Flying above them, keeping watch, was a large, black and yellow hornet, with two long spikes on its top legs. "Beedrill…"

"Beedrill…" Louise recognized the name. Back at Sycamore's lab, she researched a few species, including Beedrill, and what she saw terrified her. A hornet a meter tall, with a hostile and territorial disposition that would attack any intruder, they were a far cry from their friendly cousins. With fear quickly rising within her, Louise whisper-shouted to Saito, "Why didn't Tanuki see them?!"

"He's not a master of Aura Sight yet, he was so focused on scanning for humans he couldn't see the Beedrill until it was too late. That and he overexerted himself thanks to you…" Saito glared at Louise, who silently gulped.

"…what do we do?"

"…okay, okay…let me think," Saito wracked his brain for a plan on how to escape this mess. "Let's just…quietly crawl our way back until we can make a run for it."

"Oh, that's a brilliant plan! Just crawl away!" Louise whispered sarcastically.

"You got a better one?"

"No…" Louise answered, growing silent until a thought suddenly entered her head. "Viola!"

"She's a Gym Leader, she can handle herself."

"But we can't just-!"

"Do you see Viola here!?" Saito hissed at Louise, cutting her off. "I am not debating this with you! We. Are. Leaving!"

Shocked at Saito's sudden change in personality, Louise could only grumble and nod in agreement. She could see his argument, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

"Come on, let's…" Saito began crawling backwards away from the hive before a sudden loud snap sounded off from behind the prone trainers, followed by an even louder crash. Slowly, the two trainers turned their heads to look at the source, only to find a small tree branch, filled with half eaten Sitrus Berries, had snapped off the tree behind them and fallen onto the forest floor. Looking up, they Aile, with half a berry lying at her feet, looking horrified at her mistake from atop the former home of the snapped branch. Apparently, Aile had accidentally knocked loose a tree branch that had already been weakened by the Weedles. Turning back to look at the hive, Saito and Louise's eyes narrowed as they noticed every single Beedrill, numbering around thirty strong, glaring at the two with hate filled eyes.

"When this is over," Saito plainly stated, a noticeable sheen of sweat covering his face, "I'm going to kill Aile."

"Get in line," Louise agreed as the two quickly jumped to their feet. "Plan?"

"Run like hell," Saito ordered, making an about face before he was halted in his tracks by the sudden appearance of another Beedrill. This one noticeably larger, and angrier than the others. If he had to guess, this was the Queen, and she was not happy that the two of them had trespassed into her territory.

Ronin, Tanuki, Brennaraki, and Aile cried out and they formed a defensive circle around their trainers, recognizing the danger they were all in.

"Change of plan, we're fighting our way out!" Saito yelled, tensed in anticipation as they were now surrounded by the angry swarm, their collective buzzing almost drowning out his voice to the point where Louise only just heard hi. "Louise, I need you and Brennaraki to help Ronin cut a path through so we can make a break for it! Tanuki and Aile will get any get any that come too close, got it!"

"Got it!" Louise shouted back, preparing to make the appropriate orders alongside Saito, slightly wondering why the swarm hadn't attacked yet. Pushing that thought aside and simply chalking it up to the grace of God, Louise opened her mouth to shout her command.

"Em-!/Wat-!" Louise and Saito began to shout before a third voice suddenly interrupted them.

"WAIT, WAIT!" The voice, appearing to be feminine, shouted across the clearing, loud enough to be clearly heard through the buzzing. Running through the swarm itself, the source of the voice made herself known. She was clearly a woman equipped for field work, wearing a white tank top and cyan cargo shorts. Dangling around her chest like a necklace was a large black camera, and around her waist were six collapsed Pokéballs. Standing in front of the two young trainers with her back turned, Louise couldn't get a good look at her face, but she could tell who the woman is.

"Viola? Viola Pansy?" Louise asked, temporarily forgetting the situation she was in.

"Yes, Ms. Vallière, it's me! We'll talk later! Keep your eyes down, they see it as a challenge!" Viola shouted back before turning her attention back to the Queen Beedrill. "It's okay, they're with me! They mean you no harm!" Viola attempted to sooth the angry Queen. Judging by the Queen's posture and glare, the attempt wasn't quite working out.

Shifting tactics, Viola started again. "In fact, we were just leaving. Right, guys?"

"That's right! We were just about to leave," Saito quickly played along, nervously glancing around the swarm that continued to surround them.

"Yes, we are!" Louise, catching onto what Viola and Saito were doing, nervously replied. At this, Viola walked in between the two trainers and wrapped her arms around them, nervously smiling at the Queen Beedrill. After a moment's hesitation, an eternity for Louise, the Queen cocked her head sharply, ordering a path away from the hive for the group to walk through.

"Thank you for your patience. We won't bother you again today," Viola thanked the Queen before quickly moving the two trainers through the open space, their Pokémon following behind them, along with the Queen herself and two Beedrills to escort them out. Once they were far enough away for the Queen to be satisfied, the Beedrill left the trainers to their own devices, a few Weedles left behind to continue foraging for food, causing them all to sigh in relief, before Viola quickly delivered a light chop to the top of Louise and Saito's heads, making them wince in pain.

"What were you two thinking!?" Viola shouted at Louise and Saito, who were clutching their heads in pain. "Do you have any idea how much danger you two were in!? You could have been killed! Honestly, wandering into a Beedrill hive!"

"We weren't wandering!" Louise attempted to defend herself. "We were trying to find you! To deliver-!"

"Hey, don't lump me into this! I was just following you!" Saito interjected, trying to avoid any blame.

"Why you-!"

"You two are both at fault in this!" Viola shouted, halting the argument before it could properly begin, before she sighed and began to calm herself down. "Louise, I know why you are here. Augustine called me a few days ago to tell me you would be arriving into town with a Beedrillite. I'm certain Nurse Joy told you that I would be in the forest, doing my photography work, for a few hours, so why did you two decide to come after me?"

"I-" Louise began trying to explain her admittedly foolish decision before she was interrupted by Saito again.

"Wait, you knew she was at a Beedrill hive!" Saito turned to Louise before a glare from Viola shut him up.

"And you. Don't think you are not at fault in this. You could have taken her back to Santalune, but instead you _allowed_ this to happen. You are just as much at fault in this as she is."

"Yes, ma'am…" Saito quietly relented, looking down in shame as he twiddled his fingers, hands clasped together, with his Pokémon mimicking his actions. Ronin was kowtowing.

"Arceus…" Viola sighed, pinching the roof of her nose. "Listen, guys. You can't just rush into things without knowing what to expect. Had you asked Nurse Joy exactly where I would be, she would have told you that I was with a local Beedrill hive taking photographs. But you didn't, and got yourself into severe danger because of it. You…I haven't gotten your name yet. You are?"

"Saito Hiraga, ma'am."

"Thank you. Saito, you overestimated your and your Pokémon's abilities and walked both of you right into the hive. Had I not been there…" Viola let the possibility hand over everyone's head like an axe, causing the two young trainers to pale in realization.

"But…I admire your dedication to seek me out. It says volumes about your characters that you stuck with it. Not all of it good, mind you, but still volumes."

"I…I'm sorry, Ms. Violette…" Louise meekly apologized.

"Please," Viola laughed away the tension in the air, "Ms. Violette makes me feel old. Call me Viola, everyone else does. Now, since we're already here, I believe you have something for me?"

"Oh, uhh, yes!" Louise exclaimed, quickly reaching into her bag. "Where is the stupid-ah, here!" Louise exclaimed as she took hold of the Beedrillite. Taking a step forward, Louise suddenly tripped on an upturned rock she hadn't noticed before. As she was falling, the Beedrillite slipped out of her hands and flew forward, striking a Weedle in the head. It called out in slight pain as it fell to the ground. Before Louise could apologize, the Queen Beedrill suddenly reappeared, almost as if she had never really left, incensed at the harm her spawn had incurred.

"That was an accident!" Viola exclaimed, placing herself in front of the trainers as she looked back down at the ground. The Queen merely stared at the group before looking down at the shiny stone and sensing a connection with it, picked up the orb.

"What's she doing?" Saito asked, confused and worried over the Beedrill's actions.

"All Pokémon capable of Mega-Evolution have an instinctive connection with their appropriate Mega-Stones," Viola explained in a whisper and pulled out her camera, which Saito and Louise just now noticed had a gem embedded on the shutter button. "Don't worry. Mega-evolution needs a strong bond between a Pokémon and trainer to work, so right now that Beedrillite—" Viola was suddenly cut off when a bright light emitted from the Mega-Stone in question, along with the Queen Beedrill.

"What the-?!" Saito yelled, shielding his eyes from the bright light. "What's happening!?"

"It's Mega Evolving!? How?!" Viola shouted in response, equal parts confused and terrified, as she finally took hold of one of her Pokéballs as a precaution.

As the light died down, they looked upon the Queen Beedrill, only to find she had dramatically changed. If the Beedrill had looked intimidating before, now she looked terrifying. She had rapidly grown even larger than before, her legs now ended in a pair of needle-like stingers while the thorax was also much bulkier, and now sported a much larger stinger on its end. At the same time, her forearms had grown into massive lances. Finally, her eyes, now slicked back, glowed a faint, deep red as it gazed upon them with murder in its eyes.

"Oh…shit…" Saito said plainly. "How did…?" He couldn't even finish his sentence as more Beedrill entered the area, attracted by the bright light. Upon seeing the state of their queen, and with their tempers already on a hair trigger, they joined her in glaring at the small group, with an angry buzz filling the air. The terrifying element for Louise, however, was just how silent the Mega-Beedrill was in it's glare.

"Run," Viola ordered as she stared back at the Mega-Beedrill. Before any of them could react, the Mega-Beedrill violently reared back and charged.

* * *

Hey, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Things just went from 0 to 100 real quick there, didn't it?

No questions for me to answer right now, but if you have any and they don't require spoilers just leave a review! We want to hear everyone's feedback, positive or negative. It can only make this story better.

Next Chapter: How will Saito and Louise get out of this? What caused the Beedrill to Mega Evolve? Find out next time on Outsiders!


	10. Season 1, Episode 3, Chapter 2

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)**  
 **Season 1, Episode 3, Chapter 2**

* * *

Before Louise could even blink, the Mega Beedrill had closed half the distance between them. Like a deer staring at headlights, Louise stood motionless in terror, only to be tackled to the ground by Saito, with the Mega Beedrill shooting overhead like a bullet. Viola had merely conducted an expert dodge roll, at the end of which two Pokéballs were thrown from her hand, releasing giant red and black striped spider and a red insectoid with a metallic exoskeleton, whom immediately engaged the Queen and her bodyguards.

"Louise, we need to move! Now!" Saito yelled, lifting Louise to her feet, only to push her back as Viola's metallic insectoid went flying over their heads, with the Queen very close behind him.

The insectoid quickly righted himself and grabbed two of the Queen's javelins in its claws but quickly lost his grip when a bundle of silk quickly latched onto his arm and wrenched it away, allowing the queen to start hammering him with her larger arm javelins. Seeing the insect struggle, Louise's eyes narrowed as she finally decided to act.

"Aile, Peck!" Louise shouted as Aile darted down in an attempt to help the insectoid that was getting beaten on by the massive wasp, only for the queen to quickly dart away from the insectoids reach and made a swipe at the tiny bird. On the near miss, Aile paused a moment before attempting to dart away from the battle through the canopy, only to be stopped when the Queen shot a stream of sparking webs at the bird, entangling her in webbing before violently pulling her to the ground.

"Aile!" Louise shouted in a panic as Aile twitched uncontrollably in the electric web. Quickly taking out her ball, Louise attempted to return the downed bird but another strand of silk shot and snagged the ball from her hand. "Hey!" Louise shouted indignantly quickly following the silk to a Weedle that was sitting in the tree above her, glaring down at her.

Defenseless, Aile could only stare in mortal terror as the Queen darted forward, only to be saved by the metallic insectoid pouncing onto the Queen, drawing her attention away from the downed bird. As the Queen struggled to remove the large insect, Louise and Brennaraki quickly rushed out into the clearing. With Brennaraki shooting fireballs at every Weedle and Beedrill that got too close, Louise scooped the cocooned bird into her arms, only to be stopped by the metallic insectoids body being violently thrown at her. Louise and Brennaraki jumped out of the way, only to freeze at the sight of the Queen's glare directed squarely at them.

Seeing how his allies were in immediate danger, Ronin leapt forward, intending to hit the queen's back with a glowing scalchop, but was quickly swiped out of the air and pinned to a tree by one of the Queen's arms. Before the queen could stab him, the giant spider from before leapt onto the Queen's back, dragging the queen off the sea otter, then hastily attempted to bind the queen's flailing limbs with silk. These binds lasted for but a moment as the Queen pulled them apart and violently threw a punch at the spider, who merely jumped away and launched a sticky web at the Queen, encasing her in place as she struggled to free herself.

Suddenly, Tanuki dropped down from a tree and delivered a sharp kick to the Queen's head. The only reaction from the Queen, however, was a sharp glare as she shifted her head towards the offending hound. Tanuki, realizing his precarious position, gulped before the Queen freed herself from her bonds. Tanuki could only raise his arms to protect himself as he was violently punched by a stinger and launched into a tree. Striking the tree with an audible crack, he crumpled into a heap, the tree falling over shortly after.

"Tanuki!" Saito screamed as he looked at Tanuki's struggling form. Before the Queen could attack the downed dog, the metallic insectoid reentered the fray and launched itself at the Queen, latching onto her body and delivering a series of powerful blows to her head in rapid succession. Dazed, the Queen attempted to throw the insect off, only for the insectoid to jump off rather than risk damage, placing itself between the body of Tanuki and the enraged Queen. The two Pokémon stood silently across from one another before launching themselves forward into a clash, delivering mighty, savage blows to each other. From what Louise could tell, from her kneeled form as she struggled to remove the shocked silk cocoon from Aile's body, while Viola's Pokémon was strong and highly trained, the brute force of Mega Evolved Queen was slowly wearing it down.

"Aah!" She shrieked as she ducked beneath an exchange of fire and needles going over her head, the battle between the swarm and the rest of their Pokémon still ongoing. The giant spider had webbed up most of the Weedles and Beedrill at this point, keeping them out of the fight, but more continued to pour into the area and they started to turn their attention to the young trainers. Just as Louise managed to free Aile, a Beedrill swooped down at Louise, only to be knocked back by Saito wielding a tree branch like a club.  
"Louise, come on! We need to get out of here!" He yelled, knocking back another Beedrill.

"We can't just leave her! She needs our help!" Louise retorted, ducking underneath Saito's swing towards another Beedrill.

"We being here is making things worse for her!" Saito swung at another Beedrill, only for this one's exoskeleton to suddenly hardened, causing the tree branch to shatter. "Crap…" Saito quickly backed up, placing himself in front of Louise in an attempt to shield her. Before the Beedrill could attack, the spider pounced the hornet, wrestling it to the ground and binding it in a cocoon of silk, while Ronin and Tanuki leapt out of Saito's backpack, putting themselves in front as a forward guard.

The buzzing in the area grew louder as more Beedrill swarmed in. "What the hell are you two still doing here!? RUN!" Viola shouted as she dodged another Beedrill that attempted to dive-bomb her and releasing another Pokémon, this time some winged, black and yellow beetle with bright red eyes.

"We are not le-UKR" Louise attempted to shout only for Saito to suddenly grab her by her shirt and lifted her up into a bridal carry, quickly starting to haul her flailing form into the forest with Tanuki, Ronin, and Brennaraki hot on their heels. "Put me down this instant you brute!"

Saito, ignoring both Louise's protests and blows, continued his sprint into the forest, their Pokémon following shortly behind them. Glancing forward, Louise saw Viola touch some kind of gem embedded on her camera when the red insectoid began glowing in a similar way to the Beedrill. She couldn't get a good look at, but it was obvious even to her that the Pokémon had undergone a Mega Evolution. As the two Mega-Evolved Pokémon raced forward to clash, Saito ran past a thicket of trees and out of sight.

After running for nearly fifteen minutes, Saito breathed heavily as he continued to run, further and further away from the Beedrill swarm, the Mega Beedrill, Viola, everything in that situation that was putting him and Louise in danger. Louise at this point has ceased her flailing, going uncomfortably quiet. Frankly, for all Saito cared she could stew in her anger. Only when the sounds of battle finally faded, and faint clicks of various insects could still be heard, did he let up, slowing down to a stop and unloading Louise back onto the ground.

"Okay…okay…let me catch my breath…" Saito requested, receiving no response from Louise, whose eyes were covered by shadow. He paid her no heed as he turned to look at the direction they fled from. Seeing how none of the Beedrill had followed them, he sighed in relief. "We… We should be safe now… Are you-?" Any further words were cut off by a sucker punch to the face, courtesy of Louise, shocking him and the Pokémon.

"Gaagh!" Saito grunted in pain, holding his cheek. "What the hell was that for!?"

"You left her," Louise's words chilled the air around them.

"What?!"

"You! Left! Her!" Louise was shouting at this point, emphasizing each word with a violent point to him. "You left Viola, alone, to deal with that…that…thing!"

"Of course I did! She told us to run!" Saito shouted back, defending himself. "Or did you not hear that?!"

"Of course I heard her!"

"Then what is your problem?!"

"We should have stayed anyway!" Louise declared, stunning Saito into silence.

"… Are you out of your goddamn mind?!" Saito's face was now a fiery mixture of exasperation and confusion at the rosette's declaration. Before she could respond, he continued. "Had we _stayed_ , we would have died! Dead! Do you understand that?!"

"Oh, so leaving Viola behind to die instead is perfectly okay, then, you stupid dog?!" Louise retorted, stomping up to Saito's face. At this point, the Pokémon were staring wide-eyed at the scene, unsure of how to stop this from escalating further.

"In case you hadn't noticed, our being there was not helping! Our Pokémon weren't doing anything to that Mega Beedrill! We were a nuisance to it _at best_! Only Viola's Pokémon even made a scratch, and even then it was throwing them around like ragdolls!"

"All the more reason to have stayed! She needed our help! Now, without us, she has to worry about that monstrosity and the swarm! We could have at least gotten the swarm off of her!"

"Now with us _gone_ , she can actually devote her complete attention to the Queen and the swarm and not have to worry about two teenagers in way over their heads!" Saito shouted with finality, pausing to see her response. When she didn't answer, he huffed and turned back around to check on his Pokémon, completely done with Louise's lunacy.

"… You're a coward." Her voice rang out, drenched in venom, stopping Saito dead in his tracks.

"… _What?_ "

"You're a coward. Running away is what cowards do. You ran away with your tail between your legs, so that makes you a coward. The honorable thing to do would have been to stand your ground and keep fighting, no matter what!"

"…I don't know what _cave_ you crawled out of, but what I did was not 'cowardly', it was _smart_. Picking battles you know you cannot win, only for you or your Pokémon to get severely injured is not _honorable_ , it's reckless and damn stupid! The fact that you confuse the two says a lot about how smart you are!"

"Excuse me!" Louise exclaimed, insulted. "I will have you know I received top marks in all of my courses!" He did not need to know that he received failing grades in practical applications.

"Oh really?" Saito sarcastically replied, marching back up to her. "'Received top marks.' In what? 'How to Walk Blindly Into a Beedrill Hive Trying to Find a Gym Leader You Could Have Waited For In-Town' 101? 'How to Start a Pokémon Journey Completely Unprepared' 205? 'How to Live with a Pokémon Professor for Three Weeks and Not Know what the Pokémon League Is' 300? Are those where you received your top marks, because if so that answers _so many questions!_ "

"... What _exactly_ are you trying to say." Louise gritted her teeth at the boy.

"You want to know what I'm trying to say? Okay then, let's list them off, shall we? From the past few hours that I have known you, you have displayed zero common sense about anything. You insist on battling when the only outcome is getting yourself and your Pokémon hurt due to fighting above your weight class, which tells me you have zero regard for the safety of yourself or others. You don't know information which is common knowledge to _literally everyone else on the planet!_ " Saito was shouting again at this point, while Louise was growing more and more enraged with each point he made. "You know what, I change my mind. Even _cavemen_ have displayed more common sense than you do! You are stubborn to a 'T', prideful to the point where you can't admit your mistakes! Do you want me to keep going?!"

"If I am all that, then why did you come along in the first place?!"

"Because I knew that if I didn't, you'd do something stupid! Looks like I was right!" Saito screamed in her face. "If a trainer can't keep him or herself and their Pokémon _safe_ , if others get put in danger because of their idiocy, and they can't admit they were wrong, they have zero right to be a trainer!"

When the words left his mouth, an expression of pure hurt flashed across Louise's face, only to be replaced by pure, unadulterated rage. Had his emotions not been hot at that moment, Saito might had felt regret. But, in his anger, he felt nothing.

"I want you gone," Louise demanded, finally fed up with the boy she had spent the last few hours with.

"Staying around you is going to get me killed, anyway," Saito venomously retorted. The two stayed silently rooted to their positions before turning their backs to the other, Louise kneeling down to apply medicine to her Pokémon. "Come on, guys. We're leaving." He ordered to his despondent Pokémon.

"Don't let the door hit you on your way out," Louise barked, holding back the tears of hurt from rolling out.

"There are no doors out here, you idi-." Saito's insult halted in its tracks as a familiar, terrifying buzzing off in the distance. Slowly, Louise got to her feet, goosebumps forming all around her body, with sweat beginning to form on her brow. A quick glance at Saito confirmed the same thing was happening to him. "Oh, shit…"

"They must have followed the shouting…" Louise paled with this realization. With the buzzing getting louder, Louise quickly tossed Saito two full restores, who immediately applied them to his Pokémon. "Tanuki, how many?" The canine whimpered in response. "How many is that?"

"Too many…" Saito answered. The buzzing was nearly deafening at this point. Saito, picking up another fallen tree branch, backed up until he and Louise were nearly touching. "Listen, whatever our disagreements, none of that matters right now. Focus on keeping them away, and we might walk out of this."

"Got it," Louise answered. The buzzing was so loud, she could hardly hear herself. They surrounded at this point, that much she could tell. Large shapes could be seen moving among the trees. By Louise's rough estimate, there had to be at least fifteen Beedrill. The buzzing grew louder and louder, until it suddenly stopped. In silence, nothing moved, nothing breathed. It was suffocating. The tension was think enough that it could be cut. Saito's hands, shaking in fear, gripped the branch like a lifeline, Louise's inched closer and closer to her wand. It was at that moment, the moment when a naïve person would think the danger had passed when the swarm pounced.

Suddenly, the air was filled with large, angry, black and yellow hornets, firing a seemingly endless cascade of needles at the trainers and their Pokémon. Diving away from the needles, the counterattack was swift. No orders needed to be given, as they all knew there was no time to do so.

Aile immediately created a tailwind, speeding up her movements, and proceeded to launch into a series of swoops, pecking any Beedrill in her path. Brennaraki's familiar fireballs shot out in rapid succession, firing wildly into the swarm. Some hit, with scorched Beedrill falling to the ground in a heap. Others merely were singed as the fireballs were dodged. At the same time, Ronin alternated between firing jets and water and sending swipes of compressed air towards the swarm. While not as effective as the fire, his attacks were more accurate, hitting more targets than were missed. Tanuki himself acted as a bodyguard. Any Beedrill that close was quickly besieged by a combination of glowing punches and feet, with rapid movements between targets as he moved in a blur among different Beedrill.

"Duck!" Saito shouted as he swung his branch at a Beedrill near Louise's head. Somehow, it had managed to get past the defenses their Pokémon had set up and set its sights on Louise, who immediately ducked upon hearing Saito's warning, allowing him to whack the Beedrill to the ground. As Louise picked herself up, she spotted Saito swing his branch at another Beedrill, knocking it back. But, with each swing, with each Beedrill knocked down, two more seemed to take its place, and as Louise looked upon the state of their Pokémon, she could see them begin to tire, their movements growing increasingly sluggish, their attacks hitting less and less. Saito, too, with every swing, was growing more and more tired. When Louise finally spotted Aile, the small bird was no longer trying to attack, but merely trying to retreat, weaving between fired needles, punches, and web strings fired from all the various Beedrill she had previously harassed. To Louise's comfort, she was able to successfully do so, until the wind behind her died down. Slowed, Aile was unable to dodge a punch from a Beedrill, sending the bird crashing into the ground.

"Aile!" Louise shouted in alarm, racing over to the downed bird. A Beedrill swooped down in an attempt to punch her with one of its stingers, only for Saito to shoulder check it to the ground and swing his branch at another Beedrill that had joined the fray. Continuing on, Louise slid to Aile on her knees, gently picking her up while reaching into her bag for a full restore.

"It's going to be okay, Aile," Louise soothed the bird as she applied the medicine. Opening her eyes, Aile saw Louise's looking down at her, smiling once she saw Aile was okay. As Aile opened her eyes, the birds' eyes widened and she quickly escaped from Louise's hands, becoming a blur as she tackled a Beedrill that had sneaked up behind Louise out of the air, sending it sprawling onto the ground.

"Was that…?"

"Aile just used Quick Attack, Louise!" Saito shouted over the swarm, continuing to fend off any Beedrill that got too close to the group. Reveling in her newfound move, Aile began to rapidly attack members of the swarm in quick succession. The small bird was a blur as she raced between Beedrill after Beedrill, focusing on the ones that got too close to Louise. Even then, it wasn't enough, as the swarm seemed to just keep increasing in number and in strength.

At the same, Brennaraki refused to stop firing the small fireballs towards the swarm. But, with each fireball shot out, the power of each one grew increasingly weaker until finally, she exhausted her flame. The only sign of fire that came out of her mouth was smoke. Resorting to simple fangs and claws, Brennaraki fought on, both for her sake but also for her trainer, only to see yet another Beedrill swoop down at Louise. With Aile focusing on another Beedrill, and Ronin and Tanuki concentrating on keeping Saito secure, no one was able to protect Louise, who screamed as the Beedrill neared. Desperation filled Brennaraki as she tried to fire off one last fireball. Instead of smoke and fire, a purple sheen-filled her eyes as a wave of energy flew out, striking the Beedrill directly and making it crumble. Recognizing that she had learned a new move, Brennaraki began repeating the purple wave over and over, keeping the Beedrill at bay.

"That's a Psychic-type move!" she recognized, albeit not knowing the name of the move itself. Saito moved to name the move as Psywave, which only served to distract him from a trio of Beedrill blindsiding him and his Pokémon. Ronin and Tanuki were knocked away, forced into a close quarter's melee with their respective Beedrill, while Saito swung his tree branch at his Beedrill. As he swung the branch, the Beedrill simply buried one of its stingers into it, wedging the stick in place before directing a punch to his chest. Hastily, Saito jumped out of the way, but was given a shallow cut on his arm by the poison-tipped stinger.

"Gaagh!" Saito screamed as he felt the poison began to spread through his body.

"Saito!" Louise screamed out. Seeing him vulnerable, the Swarm quickly abandoned their original targets and raced towards his downed form, as he and his Pokémon struggled to get him to his feet, fearful looks etched on their faces. Reacting, Louise pulled out her wand and did what she should have done when this first started. "Fireball!"

All of a sudden, and to the shock of everyone present, especially Saito, his Pokémon, and the Beedrill, a large explosion rang out in the center of the oncoming swarm, sending heaps of scorched Beedrill onto the ground. All eyes were directed to her as they gazed upon Louise holding her wand, pointed right at the swarm.

"What the hell…?" Saito gasped at the sight, alarmed and confused at the display of power the rosette just displayed. The swarm was just as confused, as they temporarily retreated to regroup. Seeing a momentary pause in the fighting, Louise ran over to him and began reaching into her bag, pulling out an Antidote before grunting and putting it back. Sycamore had told her that Antidotes don't work on people, so she pulled out some anti-venom instead.

"How did you…?" Saito began, confused beyond all belief before Louise interrupted him.

"Not here. I'll answer whatever questions you have back in Santalune, but not here. I'd…rather not be in this Founder forsaken forest any longer. Deal?" She softly asked, her previous anger at him gone and replaced with concern and regret over how her actions led to this.

Saito was silent before he responded. "… No argument here," He grunted out. He hissed in slight pain at the sting of the antidote before sighing in relief as the medicine began to take hold. As he shakily stood up, the sounds of the swarm began picking up again. They would be here soon. "We…need to…get out…of here…"

"Agreed," Louise replied, only to see Saito begin to wobble. "Saito!" Louise gasped as he began to tip over, catching him before he could fall to the ground. A quick glance at the wound told her that the anti-venom wasn't quite working as intended, and he need medical attention soon. A fact soon emphasized by the affected area turning purple.

"Well…that's not good…," he groggily stated. "You…can do more…of that…explosion thing….right?"

"Yes, yes I can." Louise readied her wand, point it at the forest.

"Good… I think we're going to need it…" Saito's head was drooping at this point, and having lost all feeling in his arm. "By the way…if we make it through this…I'm gonna need…some…explan-…" Saito, struggled to say, groggy from the poison.

"Saito? Saito!?" Louise cried out before the buzzing once again picked up. As the first Beedrill showed itself, Louise aimed her wand. "Fireba-!" Before she could finish her chant, a string of web shot out, impacting her wand and throwing her out of her grasp. "No…"

Seeing how she was defenseless, the swarm pounced. Her and Saito's Pokémon immediately placed themselves in front of her, firing off compressed air, fireballs, jets of water, and psychic waves, while also hitting with flaming feet and fast pecks. Louise, unable to directly assist, crouched down, shielding Saito with her own body. The swarm, however, simply barreled past the attacks. Just as they reached the group, just as they were about to make contact, a large red blur shot out and impacted the heart of the swarm, breaking them apart.

"Eh?!" Louise gasped as she looked at her savior. It was the metallic insectoid from before, but it was different. She assumed this was its Mega Evolution. It was more muscular, more heavily armored. Its feet more pointed than before, its head spikier. The small, crab like pincers from before had morphed into something more akin to jaws. It hovered in place, standing between her and the swarm, before it suddenly _vanished_ in a blur. With blinding speed, the insectoid began to demolish the swarm. Any Beedrill that got close was immediately clobbered. Any that tried to escape was webbed up by the prompt arrival of the giant spider. Faced with overwhelming odds, the swarm finally retreated fully. As the sounds the swarm grew fainter and fainter, the forest went quiet, until the only sign of their appearance was the fallen bodies of their kin.

"Ms. Vallière? Saito?" The voice called out. Relief filled Louise as she recognized Viola's voice.

"Viola! Over here! Help me with him!" Louise called out. Shortly after, she saw Viola rush into view, worry etched onto her face that multiplied when she saw the state Saito was in, a worry that amplified when Saito groaned in pain.

"What happened to him!?"

"He got stung by a Beedrill! I already applied anti-venom, but he's not looking well!" Louise answered as Viola helped hoist Saito by his other shoulder.

"Shit! He must have gotten stung by the bottom stinger! If he doesn't get medical attention soon… Scizor!" So that's what the insectoids name was! "Take Saito with you back into town! Get him to the Pokémon Center!" The Scizor clicked in affirmation before gently picking the unconscious boy up, only to speed out of sight and into the forest towards town.

"Ariados, take Ninjask and make sure that swarm doesn't come back!" The spider, which Louise assumed to be this Ariados, clicked before running off into the forest. The yellow and brown beetle, a Ninjask apparently, sped off after it. A silence descended over the forest before Louise fell to her knees in exhaustion.

"Viola… I'm so-"

"Its fine, Louise. I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." Viola tersely interrupted the rosette.

"… The Queen?" Louise asked, curious as to how the battle went.

"Right here," Viola pointed to a sixth Pokéball on her belt, a little regretful. That was the only answer Louise needed as she silently turned her head to look forward. Viola sighed and helped Louise up to her feet, and they began silently walking. Soon enough, Santalune City could finally be seen, and as they walked into the Pokémon Center, transferred the Pokémon to the doctors and nurses, and checked up on Saito, nothing but regret filled Louise.

* * *

Several hours later, well past the time everyone else was asleep, Louise stood awake in contemplation. The Pokémon Center, at Viola's suggestion, had given her a spare room to sleep in for the night, complete with a small TV. Louise paid it no heed as she stood on the room's balcony overlooking the city, a cup of steaming hot cocoa, her fifth of the night, still in hand. As she moved to take a sip, a knock on the door shook her out of her stupor. Placing the cup down and readying herself for the conversation she knew she was about to have, she slowly opened the door to see the waiting form of Saito, his left arm wrapped in a bandage where he was stung. The two stood there in awkward silence.

"So…," Saito began.

"Yeah…" Louise responded, her eyes glancing at his arm. "Do you…want to come in?"

"That would… That would be great, yes," Saito affirmed, awkwardly. Louise opened the door, granting him entry, before carefully closing it shut. The two teenagers stood there, unsure of what to do before Louise decided to make an attempt and reducing the awkwardness.

"I… Do you want something to drink? I have some hot cocoa left over," She asked, pointing to a nearby pot.

"That…sounds perfect, actually. Thank you," Saito replied. Louise nodded then walked over to pour him a cup, while he moved to sit on one of the chairs on the balcony. He nodded in thanks when she walked back over to him, two cups in hand, and gave him one, sitting opposite of him on the table. Talking a sip, Saito swallowed. "This is pretty good."

"Professor Sycamore's is better, in my opinion. This is too…"

"Watery?"

"That's the word. Yeah…" At this, an uncomfortable silence enveloped the two as they looked at each other, unsure of how to start the actual reason why they were there.

"… I'm sorry," Louise finally spoke in a near whisper.

"You're sorry?" Saito replied, a little confused. "For what?"

"For everything that happened!" Louise yelled out. "For insulting you, for getting us into that Beedrill hive, for you getting stung, for…!" Louise began to ramble, half a day's worth of regret coming to the forefront, only to be stopped by Saito.

"Louise, Louise! It's okay! It's fine!" He reassured her, halting her in her tracks. "I wanted to say I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have snapped like that, it was uncalled for, and it only made the situation worse," At his reassurance, another silence filled the air.

"… You were right. About me wanting to stay to help Viola. If we had…" The resolution to that chain of events went unsaid. "… But you're not here to hear about how you were right and I was wrong, are you?"

"… No, I'm not," He affirmed in a serious tone, setting his complete cup down. Louise sighed in resignation before straightening herself.

"Ask away."

"How did you do that? Those explosions. Whatever that was, not natural, it was not a Pokémon attack, so what was it?"

Louise sighed deeply. "That…was my magic."

"… Magic? You mean honest to Arceus magic? Hocus Pocus and all that?" Saito was slightly skeptical, she could tell, but pressed on.

"Yes, magic. My name is Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Vallière. Where I come from…magic is commonplace."

"I'm…going to need a bit more of an explanation than just that," Saito asked, clearly confused. And so, Louise began to explain. She explained the magic system, the world she was from, the country she was from. Each answer she provided prompted more questions from Saito, each one she answered dutifully to the best of her knowledge. After an hour of questioning, Saito, having run out of questions to ask, stood up, overlooking the city.

"So, let me get this straight. You're telling me that when you entered Kalos three weeks ago, it was not from another region or some backwards village somewhere in the middle of nowhere, but rather from another world entirely?"

"Yes."

"In that world, Pokémon are… _nonexistent?_ " Louise could tell Saito was struggling to even comprehend that, something she was familiar with as well. "But magic is commonplace and those who can do magic rule over the ones who can't in a feudalistic society as the 'nobility'. You yourself are one of these 'nobles', who was attending an academy meant to teach its students how to use magic.

"That is correct."

"You excelled at theoretical aspects of magic, but when it came to practical applications, they all blew up in your face, literally."

"…yeah," Louise forlornly affirmed. Seeing how this was a sore subject for her, Saito moved on.

"And when you attempted to summon a familiar, Arceus himself intercepted the attempts and eventually reversed the spell and pulled you into the Hall of Origin, where He interrogated you and revealed that the reason why your spells blew up is that you have the long lost 'Void' affinity." Disbelief started entering Saito's voice here.

"… Yes."

"… In the end, you…tried to blow Him up, and insulted Him, issued Him a challenge that He took you up on, sending you to Lumiose, where you were found by Professor Sycamore. And you've already told me the rest. Did I leave anything out?"

"… No actually. You pretty much got it," Louise affirmed. An awkward silence filled the air once more. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"I'm still trying to decide if you are lying to me," Saito admitted. "And if you are, then it is the most detailed and cohesive lie I have ever heard, and if you aren't, then it is the product of a completely _insane_ mind, or the product of a psychic tampering _with_ your mind."

"Oh…"

"If it helps, I'm leaning more towards psychic tampering."

"Oh, gee. Thanks. That makes me feel _so_ much better," Louise sarcastically responded.

"Not for the entire thing," Saito admitted. Seeing Louise's confused face, he continued. "Look, it's obvious you can do magic. You made those explosions, and unless you're a Zorua or Zoroark in disguise, which I highly doubt, that tells me that some part of your story is true. You hardly know _anything_ about subjects that is very much common knowledge here, a fact we are _more_ than acquainted with, but coming from another world without Pokémon? And meeting Arceus in person, it's…"

"It's too outlandish," Louise finished for him, dejected.

"Exactly," Saito agreed. Seeing the dejected look on her face, he sighed and sat back down. "Look, I don't know what to believe. But I don't think you're insane. It's just… I need a little bit more hard proof, that's all."

"No, I… I understand fully…. What do you believe, then?"

"… I honestly don't know. I think the more important question is: What are you going to do now? You said that you had a year to 'prove yourself', whatever that means. I take it that you aren't just going to sit in Sycamore's lab as his assistant."

"No, no I am not," Louise affirmed, standing up. "You may not believe it, but Arceus told me that I was unworthy of having a Familiar. A living, breathing proof of my status as a mage, and he told me that if I prove myself, I can get one. I intend to prove that talking goat _wrong_."

"Okay, that I understand…kinda. How?"

"I'm going to become Champion." Louise declared with finality. "I've already notified Sycamore of my plans and issued a challenge to Viola. The battle is in the morning." At this, Saito, cup halfway to his face, stared at Louise, displaying a look of sheer determination and confidence he had not expected of her. As he sat his cup back down, he only had one thing to say.

"…Huh."

* * *

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Saito and Louise had a fight, he now knows about her magic and being from another world (but doesn't quite belive her yet), but most importantly, Louise now has her goal set, and it is perhaps the hardest one of all. Becoming Champion of the Kalos Pokémon League! She never settles, does she?

Now to answer questions:

 **Sakura Lisel** : Louise will not actually have any familiars in this story, as she does not need them. She and Saito will both get a full team, but no familiars. Human or Pokémon. Both for the Doylist reason of that she doesn't need it, and the Watsonian reason in that if she did, Arceus would come down with the Wrath of God.

 **Felipexza** : Sorry if I butcher this. I haven't spoken Spanish in years: El repuesta ira en el capitulo futeru. Perdoname. No hablo mucho espanol.

 **Jyoster** : The Pokémon in the story will not be relegated to purely the games. If the story requires it, or if the environment fits, then other species not found in the game can be found. We will be using the game as a base, however.

 **PokemonFan93** : You are correct in your assessment of tsunderes. We all felt that Type 1 was borderline abusive, and that Type 2 fit Louise better for our story. To not make her a tsundere would have been sacrilege, you know? As for Pansy, we chose that name from the Japanese name of her sister, Alexa, which is Pansy.

We hope you guys like the chapter. Stay tuned for next time!


	11. Season 1, Episode 4, Chapter 1

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)**  
 **Season 1, Episode 4, Chapter 1**

* * *

Louise could hardly sleep that night, both from the harrowing events in the forest and in anticipation of the coming battle, her first steps towards 'proving her worth'. She eventually did, only to wake up a few hours later, an hour before her battle with Viola was set to begin. Groggy, and realizing that there was no reason to go back to sleep, she made her way out to the lobby, laid out food for Aile and Brennaraki, made a cup of hot cocoa and opened the internet function on her Pokédex.

"Okay…" Louise yawned and took a sip from her cup. "Let's see here… As I thought, Viola specializes in Bug-types. That's good for us, right girls?" Louise looked down to her two Pokémon, who just now had finished their food and were looking up at her in anticipation, even Aile. Smiling back, Louise continued to read. At this point, she heard the doors open behind her, but she paid them no heed.

"It looks like…the Pokémon she had yesterday was her _field_ team. She has specialized teams that she uses for people depending on the amount of Gym Badges she has, just like the rest of the Gym Leaders, apparently," Bringing her hand to her chin, she began to think before turning her attention to her two Pokémon and smiled. "You know, I think we got this."

"Please tell me that was just the medicine I'm on and I did not just hear you say that," a voice sounded from across the room. Recognizing its owner, Louise sharply turned to see Saito, staring at her with a blank look on his face, a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Well…I should," Louise replied with confidence. "I have all the advantages this time. The team she'll be using is much weaker than what she used yesterday, I won't have to worry about a swarm of Beedrill trying to kill me, and both of my Pokémon are super effective against Bug-types, not to mention I'm more prepared this time. This will be easy. By the way, how's the arm?"

"It's still numb where the stinger hit, but it's getting better. Let's get back to you for a minute," Saito started, setting his cup down on the counter then taking a seat in front of Louise. "Yes, all of that is true, but you are forgetting a few crucial details. For starters, I highly doubt that you or your Pokémon are fully recovered from yesterday. How much sleep did you get last night? I can see bags under your eyes."

"About," Louise yawned again, forcing her to take another sip, only to find her cup empty, "four hours, I think… Don't give me that look, I'm fine!"

"Right… Second, and most importantly, Viola is a _Gym Leader_. As in, this is her job, she knows what she is doing. She is much more experienced than either of us, especially you. It's alright to be confident but going in right now is a recipe for disaster. You are not ready."

"Oh, so _you_ can do the Gym Challenge, but I can't?" Louise accused, pointedly staring at an exasperated Saito.

"That's not what I'm… Listen, I'm not saying you can't battle her. All I'm saying is that you need more time to prepare. Ask her to reschedule for another day, recover, get some sleep, _practice_ some more, and then challenge her."

"I'll be fine," Louise stubbornly insisted, getting up out of her seat. "Now, if you excuse me, I have a badge to win." With that, Louise threw her disposable cup in the trash, returned Aile and Brennaraki to their Luxury Balls, and left the Pokémon Center, leaving a dumbfounded Saito behind.

"…Don't say I didn't warn you," He sighed before quickly downing his coffee and followed her out the door. He couldn't leave the city, so he might as well watch the 'champion' in action.

* * *

"You know, these are actually pretty good," Saito observed, gazing upon a framed photograph of a flock of Starlys in flight. "I mean, I knew Viola was a photographer, but…"

"Didn't expect her to be this good, either," Louise concluded, looking at a separate framed photograph, this one depicting a Butterfree caring for its young. "Any last-minute advice?"

"Besides asking to reschedule?"

"Besides that!"

"Hmm," Saito hummed in mild amusement. "-Don't rely purely on type advantage. Good trainers, like Viola, know how to get around that. You start thinking that Type means everything, and you have already lost."

"But Type advantage _does_ give me a massive advantage here, you can't deny that."

"I'm saying that-" Saito couldn't finish his sentence as the doors to the arena suddenly opened. "… Looks like you're being called up."

"Indeed," Louise started walking forward, her head held high.

"Remember what I said!" Saito called out to her retreating form, only to have her belatedly wave back as the doors closed. He sighed, and as the doors to the spectator section opened, he made his way to the stands, mildly observing the greenhouse that the field was in, filled with a wide variety of Bug Pokémon. It was honestly quite beautiful, but his mind was elsewhere. Mainly on the two people already present on the field, listening to the referee. As he sat down, their voices finally reached him.

"Now, Ms. Valliere," The referee began, "As this is your first Gym Battle, I will go over the rules to follow. These rules are standard across all Kalos League Gyms. This will be a Single Battle, as in both the challenger and the Gym Leader will send out one Pokémon at a time. As you currently possess two Pokémon, Viola will also only use two Pokémon. As the challenger, you reserve the right to switch Pokémon while Viola, as the Gym Leader, cannot. Viola will also send out her Pokémon first. These battles will be decided by knockout. Gym Leaders can enact specialized rules; however, Viola has declined to do so. Should you win, you will also be required to pass a practical test before earning the badge. Any questions?"

"No, sir," Louise answered with confidence, her hand reaching down to grab a Luxury Ball, with Viola echoing the movement.

"Ms. Vallière, despite how we met, I wish you the best of luck," Viola spoke up in encouragement. "Don't think I'm going to go easy on you now."

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Louise replied, brimming with confidence, causing Viola to smirk.

"Well then, let's begin. Go, Surskit!" Viola called out, releasing a round, blue, four-legged spider with a single yellow antenna. Quickly, Louise pulled out her Pokédex and activated the scan function.

" _Surskit, the Pond Skater Pokémon. By secreting oil from its feet, Surskits are capable of skating around on the_ water _. Its antennae secrete a syrup that both acts as a defense mechanism and attracts prey._

 _'So, a Bug/Water-type…'_ Louise thought as she planned her next move. ' _Bug is weak to Fire, but Water is strong against Fire, so Brennaraki's advantage would get negated. Then again…'_ Louise quick snapped forward with her mind made.

"Let's go, Brennaraki!" Throwing the ball into the air, it opened to unleash the fire fox held within, who let out a yelp in anticipation.

"Dammit, Louise," Saito, sitting from the stands, whispered, in his eyes seeing her chances diminish by the second. Louise, on the other hand, was full of confidence and immediately began to issue orders.

"Brennaraki, let's start this off with a Psywave!" Louise ordered. A purple glow soon enveloped Brennaraki before launching a wave of psychic energy out towards the blue spider.

"Jump!" Viola yelled out, with Surskit immediately complied as it nimbly jumped over the psychic wave. "Follow up with Bubblebeam!" As Surskit continued its descent, it let out a large stream of bubbles from its mouth, right towards Brennaraki.

"Dodge it!" Brennaraki sharply jumped to the side at Louise's order, with the stream of bubbles going wide. "Ember!" In retaliation, the fire fox lets off a fireball, and as it zoomed towards the spider, it fired another stream of bubbles _at_ the fireball, stopping it dead and creating a small cloud of steam, obscuring Louise's vision.

"Where is it?" Louise's eyes darted around the arena, trying to make out the Surskit, but the steam made that nearly impossible. Finally, the steam began to dissipate, revealing the Surskit once again. Who was currently charging up an attack, which fired as soon as the obscuring steam was gone.

"Move!" Brennaraki barely had time to react before a large beam shot impacted the ground where she previously stood, creating a large sheet of ice that began to quickly spread outward from the point of impact. More beams of ice shot out towards Brennaraki, who desperately hopped about to dodge the streams.

"Wait a second…" Louise squinted her eyes as she noticed a pattern set by the Surskit, before gasping in realization. "It's missing on purpose!" Louise shouted out, causing Brennaraki's eyes to widen as well as she dodged another beam of ice, only to slip on the arena floor, now covered in a solid sheet of ice.

"I was wondering when you were going to catch that," Viola called out. "How well can your starter fight when it can't even stand?"

"Grrh," Louise growled, continuing to watch Brennaraki struggle to remain upright on the ice sheet, before sighing in resignation and pulling out a Luxury Ball. "Brennaraki, return," Louise was quiet as the red beam shot out and absorbed the Fennekin back into her ball. Beads of sweat began to form on her brow, the battle was not going exactly as planned but she wasn't about to give up and readied another Luxury Ball.

"Go, Aile! Start off with Tailwind!" With a shout, Louise threw the ball out onto the arena, releasing Aile, who safely flew above the sheet of ice, flapping her wings to create the much-needed speed boost. "Quick Attack!" Disappearing in a blinding burst of speed, Aile dive-bombed the Surskit.

"Ice Beam!" Viola retaliated, with Surskit launching a beam of ice towards the speeding bird, who narrowly barrel rolled out of its path, swooping upwards to avoid crashing to the ground. The beam struck the ceiling, creating small series of icicles that hung precariously.

"What are you planning…" Louise muttered, eyeing the icicles with apprehension, before shaking it off. "Aile, Peck!" At her order, Aile once again swooped down, aiming to strike at the insect, only for it to skate around to her back and fired another Ice Beam, forcing the bird to once again roll out of the way, only this time the tip of her wing was grazed. Aile cried out in slight pain and spiraled downward but managed to reorient herself before she crashed into the ground, although she was noticeably lower to the ground this time.

"Damn it," Louise grunted, only to fall silent as she gazed back up to the ceiling. Now, it was completely covered in icicles, and when she looked back down at Viola, confused, the Gym Leader smirked, causing the rosette to go wide-eyed. "Aile, look-!"

"Signal Beam on the ceiling!" As soon as Viola made the order, a purple beam shot out, striking the ceiling dead center. The icicles forebodingly shook, freezing Louise and Aile in place, before a loud crack appeared at the point of impact. The crack quickly spread outward, each movement sending a screeching noise that filled the air.

"Aile, move!" Louise ordered, hoping to avoid what was soon to occur, but before Aile had a chance to move, the icicles, cracked loose from their roots, began to cascade downward in a makeshift hail, slamming into Aile repeatedly. The tiny bird cried out in pain and attempted to maneuver herself out of the sudden hail, only to be intercepted by a sticky glob of webbing, binding her to the ground. Unable to defend herself properly or move out the way, Louise and Aile could only watch as the Surskit launched a heavy stream of bubbles at the helpless bird, the intensity high enough to create a small screen that once again obscured her vision. As it dissipated, Louise only saw the prone form of Aile, clearly out of action.

"Aile is unable to battle! Surskit is the winner!" The referee ruled. Silent, Louise returned Aile to her Luxury Ball and threw Brennaraki back out onto the field, who immediately slipped on a patch of ice.

"Alright, Brennaraki, it's all up to you!" Louise cheered, attempting to reassure both her starter and herself that they could still win. "Use Ember!" With the order given, Brennaraki once again fired off a small fireball, the recoil sending her slightly backward on the ice. The Surskit, much more used to this environment, was able to easily bypass it, and as the fireball impacted harmlessly against the back wall, the Surskit fired off another stream of bubbles. Brennaraki jumped over the stream, only to once again fall straight down upon landing.

"No, no, no!" Louise began to panic at the sight of her starter's predicament. Brennaraki continued to try and stand, only to get blasted by a stream of bubbles for her trouble, knocking her back. Rather than stay down, Brennaraki again tried to stand upright before another blast of bubbles sent her reeling. This time, the Surskit did not let up, and fired off stream after stream of bubbles, refusing to let up and creating a large smokescreen that dwarfed the previous one. Finally, the stream of bubbles ceased, and silence descended over the arena.

"… Brennaraki?" Louise whispered, unable to see the outcome of the bubble barrage. With bated breath, she waited as the smoke began to dissipate, only to gasp as she spotted the prone and unmoving form of her starter. Louise was tempted to run out onto the field, but was unable to bring herself to do only, only capable of silently returning Brennaraki into her ball before tightly clutching it to her chest.

"Oh no…" Saito whispered to himself, unable to take his eyes away from the sight.

"Brennaraki is unable to battle! Gym Leader Viola has won the battle!" With that, it was official. Louise's first Gym battle, the first chance to prove herself, and she had failed miserably.

* * *

As Louise sulked in the Pokémon center waiting for news regarding her Pokémon, she could only dwell on how the battle had turned out. Viola, after the battle was over, had immediately set off for the forest again. Apparently, she had to check in on the nest to make sure they weren't on a rampage without there queen. But, Louise couldn't bring herself to focus on just how _awful_ her performance was. It was a complete disaster, from start to finish, and she only had herself to blame. Only now, her Pokémon paid the price.

"Founder, I'm an idiot," she told herself.

"No, you're not, just inexperienced," a voice corrected her, making her jump upward and look towards the source. Not unexpectantly, it was Saito, carrying two cups of a steaming liquid, one offered to her. "I know how much you like hot cocoa, so…here." Taking the offered cup, Louise began to gulp it down, letting it soothe her.

"That…was disastrous."

"That's one way to put it," Saito agreed, sitting down next to her. Seeing how that only seemed to make things worse, Saito sighed. "Can I tell you something?"

"…Sure, go right ahead."

"It took me two tries to get my first badge," Seeing her confused expression, Saito continued. "I know you may think that I'm some super experienced trainer, but the truth is my first attempt at a gym badge was even worse than the showing that you just had. Heh, I went in with literally just Ronin, thinking that "Oh, the Gym is just Normal-Type, this will be easy". I lasted thirty seconds, if that. The only reason why I won the second time is that Tanuki was just that good… Which now that I think about it goes against my previous advice…"

"…Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I wanted to let you know that losing is to be expected, especially at this stage. That's how we learn, become better. You lost now, horribly in fact. But next time, if you take this loss to heart and learn from it, you'll get stronger, get better, everything," Saito, finishing up his spiel, placed his hand on Louise's shoulder to comfort her. Louise looked at him before smiling in agreement and, finishing up her cup, stood up in defiance.

"You're right. I will get better. Viola may have beaten me this time, but next will be different. I know what to expect now, and next time, I'll be ready for whatever tricks she throws at me."

"That's the spirit," Saito smiled at Louise before standing up as well. "Well, it's been…interesting, but it's been nice meeting you, Louise. Good luck in your- "

"Wait," Louise interrupted Saito, halting him in his tracks. Curiously, she looked almost…embarrassed, shifting her eyes around and poking her fingers together. "Can I…ask you something?"

"Um, yeah. Sure," Saito was unsure of what Louise was about to ask, but it was obviously something that she was slow to admit.

"…I want you to help me…" Saito could barely hear her whisper.

"I'm sorry?"

"I want you to help me!" Louise almost shouted now, drawing everyone's attention in the Pokémon center and sending Saito into a state of silence.

"…why?" Saito could only bring himself to ask that question.

"Because, compared to me, you know what you are doing. If I'm going to get back home, I need to get stronger, and with your help…" Louise trailed off, evidently embarrassed by the request. Saito almost moved to say that this wasn't his problem, but one look at her face and the desperation that filled it, only made him sigh in resignation.

"Fine, I'll help," he agreed, rubbing his hair with his hand.

"Really!" Louise's face lit up at Saito's acceptance only to be quickly suppressed with a cough. Regaining her composure, Louise returned to a prim and proper stance. "Well, of course. Now, I suggest we- "

"Uh-uh," Saito interrupted, catching Louise off guard. "We do this, we do it my way, got it? None of this bossing each other around, we are going to train together as equals. Agreed?"

"…okay," Louise relented, knowing that she needed his help and not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Good. Now, where to train… Ah, I know. Route 22, it's just outside the city limits. There's a lot of good wild Pokémon for us to train against and it's closer than Santalune Forest. Besides, I think Viola would rather not bail our asses out two times in one week," Saito chuckled to himself, bringing a slight smile to Louise's face.

"No argument here," Louise nodded in agreement, wishing to avoid that forest like the plague.

"Okay, so we'll set off tomorrow," Louise moved to protest such a late departure, but Saito quickly cut her off. "You and your Pokémon need to recover, both from yesterday and today. _I_ am not yet cleared to leave the city, but I will be tomorrow. We'll go early in the morning, train all day, and the day after tomorrow you can battle Viola again. Deal?" At this, Saito extended his hand out to Louise, who was contemplating his terms, before nodding in acceptance and grasping his hand with her own.

* * *

Hey, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Sorry for not posting yesterday, 4th of July and all that.

Louise has had her very first Gym battle, and she got destroyed by what we all called the Hellskit. But she's not one to let that bring her down! She's going to rise above this or die trying! Hyperbole in that last case. Now, onto the Q & A:

 **MAJORMATT1234** : That was the entire point of that exchange. In this story, the relationship between Saito and Louise is not defined by Master and Familiar, but equals. He will not take any abuse from her nor anyone else. His tirade, while extreme, was also meant to be in the right. But, as you can see, their relationship is improving and, as with Pokémon as a whole, evolution is a key part of it.

 **Hellifrit** : The OS Ash and Misty dynamic was indeed an inspiration for their dynamic, at least at first. In essence, we took the canon FoZ relationship between Saito and Louise and cut away the parts of it that did not fit the story we were telling. Such as the more abusive elements from both sides, the Louise exploding Saito for things out of his control, his blatant perving on other people. In fact, let me say this right now: Although ZnT was a harem story, this story will not have that. We all felt that the harem elements of FoZ really brought down the story, and as such will be removing it.

 **Sakura Linsel** : We do have plans for that, rest assured.

 **PokemonFan93** : Part of Louise's problem is that she falls under the mindset of Noblese Obligue, that it is the responsibility of Nobility to protect those under you. As a noble, she views most people as below her, and thus it is her responsibility to help protect them. Sometimes, it gets her in over her head.

As for the Beedrill removing the wand, we included that to show that her magic will not be a Get Out of Jail Free card. The story is about her becoming a Pokémon trainer as of now, not learning how to control her magic. That comes later.

I wouldn't expect you to know what her Japanese name was, don't worry. Simply put, when it comes to the major characters like the Gym Leaders, we wanted them to have a last name. Since neither the dub nor original Japanese gave them last names, we went with the closest we could get, and that was taking the French (due to the Kalos = France inspiration) or Japanese (Pokémon is a Japanese franchise) names of the characters to use as a last name.

We will be showing some anime exclusive locations, as well as areas only seen in the games. Its a mixture.

 **DPSS** : That is what we thought as well. Kanto is the original Pokémon region, Alola had just come out, and Hoenn is my personal favorite, but we had to choose a region that best fit Louise. We all decided early on that Kalos was the best fit for Louise, and that has influenced the story as a whole.

Also, Tristain is actually based more off of Belgium than France. The Halkegenian version of France is Gallia, which also presumably includes the Halkegenian Spain. Germania is of course the Germanic countries, Albion is England, and Romalia is Italy. But Gallia is the most powerful country in Halkegenia, and as such their language, Gallian, has become the Lingua Franca of Halkegenia's nobility. All the different countries have essentially three languages. You have the native language for the commoners, Gallian for the nobility, and Halkegenian Latin equivalent for the Church. Tristain is a unique case in that most of the populace speaks Gallian, but Albion has Albionese, which is basically English, Germania has Germanian, which is German, and Romalia has Romalian, which is Italian.

Anyway, that concludes the Q & A. We hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and we should be back to our regularly scheduled release schedule tomorrow!


	12. Season 1, Episode 4, Chapter 2

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)**  
 **Season 1, Episode 4, Chapter 2**

* * *

As the sun rose over Santalune, Saito remained peacefully asleep, the stress of the past few days gone, only to be woken up by the sounds of loud banging on his door. Groggily, he got out of bed and opened the door, revealing a fully prepared Louise, with an impatient look on her face.

"Well?" She began, her hands placed on her hips and tapping her feet. Saito stole a glance to the clock in his room, reading a bright red 'Six A.M.' on its face.

"Do you have any idea what time it is? Saito asked, tired and annoyed at being woken up at this time.

"Six A.M."

"… Why are you up at six in the morning? Why are you getting _me_ at six in the morning?"

"You said you were going to train me today, so I got you up." Louise answered matter-of-factly, as if it was his fault that he didn't have her sleep schedule. He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"I didn't say I was going to train you at the crack of dawn!"

"Why not?" At this, Saito stopped, unable to form words at how sincere she sounded.

"… You know what, you're right. Why not, indeed."

"Thank you," Louise had a smug look on her face. "I thought the same way."

"In fact, let's start now." Saito had a look on his face, one that Louise couldn't quite place, but she paid it no heed.

"Really!?"

"Yep," Saito smacked with emphasis. With Louise looking into his eyes in expectation, he continued. "First lesson: Patience is a virtue." And with that, he closed the door, Louise's face turning from expectation, to surprise, to finally anger.

"Saito! Saito, open this door, right now!" Louise banged on the door.

"People are asleep, Louise. Go back to bed, wait in the lobby, I don't care. We'll leave in two hours, _after_ I get some more sleep, take a shower, and have breakfast." Saito's voice was more muffled, as if he had already gotten back into bed. Before she could angrily respond further, Saito's muffled voice rang out again. "Besides, I _am_ training you. After all, isn't being impatient what got you into this mess in the first place?"

"… Grrk!" Louise grunted and stomped off to the lobby, unable to form a proper counter argument. "Stupid Saito…"

As promised, and after a longer than usual shower and hearty breakfast, much to Louise's growing irritation and Saito's amusement, the two made their way to Détourner Way. Anticipating that the training might take all day, Saito had suggested, to Louise's initial protests, to bring their full gear, a suggestion to which she ultimately relented. This, however, led to a separate issue.

"Why do you have that much stuff?" Saito asked to Louise, currently collapsed against a tree.

"I…was stupid…" Louise panted through heavy breaths.

"Yeah, I figured, but _why_? How, even? That stuff must have cost a fortune," Saito responded with a blank stare, to which Louise could only sigh.

"Remember that woman who broke into Sycamore's lab?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Her family was rich."

"… Oh… But why did—"

"I was stupid and assumed it would be better to get all this stuff _then_ rather than later, and the PokéMart Supercenter is evil," Louise quickly answered as she recovered her breath, a mixture of embarrassment and irritation filling her voice. Saito paused for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, I can see that," Saito agreed, offering his hand to help Louise to her feet, which she accepted. "Moving on, let's get to why we are here." Quickly releasing his Pokémon, Saito beckoned Louise to do the same, who quickly complied. Ronin and Tanuki quickly ran up to Brennaraki and Aile and turned to face Saito and Louise, looking up at the two trainers expectantly. "Now then, I have some ideas for how to proceed, but I wanted to ask you something first: Where do you think you went wrong?"

"Hmmh," Louise hummed to herself as she looked over the previous battle again in her mind, raking it for every possible error before looking Saito in the eyes. "I got…overconfident, thinking that type advantage would carry me to victory when it couldn't."

"That is true, but you also forgot how your performance completely fell apart when Viola turned the arena into an impromptu ice skating rink."

"…how could I forget about that…" Louise grumbled at the memory. "Stupid Surskit…"

"Regardless of how 'stupid' the Surskit is, the fact is that once Viola froze the field, you couldn't adapt. That lack of being able to adapt is also a key weakness you have. You're too rigid, both in strategy and moveset, even after Aile and Brennaraki learned Quick Attack and Psywave. You didn't even think to melt the field." Saito paced, continuing to lecture to an attentive audience.

' _…Founder, why didn't I do that?!_ ' Louise slapped herself in the forehead as she realized the obvious solution to her previous ordeal.

"…So, what do you suggest I do to fix it?" Louise asked, crossing her arms. At this, Saito nodded his head at his Pokémon, who promptly nodded and barked at Aile and Brennaraki, beckoning them to follow. "Where are they going?" Louise asked as the Pokémon ran off, stopping at the opposite end of the clearing.

"I talked it over with Ronin and Tanuki, and we figured that they would be better teachers than either of us regarding teaching Aile and Brennaraki new moves, so they will be doing a separate training from us."

"Us?" A pit formed in Louise's stomach, which only deepened as Saito eyed the backpack she was still wearing. "What do you mean us?"

"Did that school you claim to have been a part of ever have P.E.?"

"…what's P.E.?"

* * *

After an hour of doing sit-ups, push-ups, and a wide array of other excruciating exercises, Louise had learned exactly what P.E. was: It was Hell.

"3…2…1. Okay, we can stop now," Saito, finishing another set of push-ups, declared as he stood up and stretched, while Louise, drenched in sweat, collapsed in a heap.

"Whoever…thought…of P.E…. can rot!" Louise groaned, her body sore and exhausted.

"A lot of people would agree with you there," Saito smirked, his amusement audible. "Now come on, get up. We still got run another two kilometers."

"You…can rot…"

"Talk like that and we'll do three kilometers," Saito chuckled, earning a sharp glare from Louise as she rose to her feet, panting. "Relax, I'm only joking. Let's take a break."

"Oh, thank the Founder…" Louise practically collapse from how quickly she sat down. Continuing to pant, she stopped only when Saito handed her a water bottle, then proceeded to down much of it in deep gulps. "Is… Is there a reason why…" Louise panted, struggling to get the words out.

"Why I had you exercise?" Louise slowly nodded at Saito, who remained smug. "Well after spending some time with you yesterday, I got the impression that you weren't in the best shape, and as an aspiring trainer, that is a characteristic you need."

"And all of that was really—"

"That and payback for getting me poisoned."

"How many times do I have to say sorry!?" Louise shouted, irritated at the now laughing Saito.

"It's fine, really," Saito, calming himself down, replied. "Now come on, we've had enough rest. Time for our nex—" Saito began, only to be interrupted by the smell of smoke. Looking towards its source, he and Louise saw a small fire, courtesy of a sheepish Brennaraki, getting put out by Ronin.

"I wonder what they're talking about?" Louise wondered as Ronin began to lecture Brennaraki. Rustling in the trees alerted the two trainers to Aile and Tanuki's whereabouts.

"Don't know," Saito shrugged. "There are Pokémon that can talk like people, but usually they're a psychic, have an aura, or some combination of those." At that, Saito beckoned for her to follow, Louise reluctantly submitting herself to another kilometer of running, leaving the Pokémon behind once more.

* * *

As the two trainers ran off to continuing their training, the Pokémon themselves remained behind, concentrating on their own training. As Saito worked on improving Louise's physical strength, Ronin and Tanuki worked with Brennaraki and Aile to improve their counterpart's move sets.

To anyone else, their series of barks, yips, and chirps would be simply that, their understanding limited. But to the Pokémon, each sound and its meaning was clear as day.

" _The key, Brennaraki,_ " Ronin, currently kneeling with eyes closed, lectured, " _is patience. Let your mind clear, and concentrate. Turn the flame into a great vortex._ "

" _I'm trying!_ " Brennaraki grunted as she formed a fireball in her mouth. But instead of letting it loose, she kept it stable and still as she tried to manipulate it. " _This stupid thing won't spin!_ "

" _You are very much like your trainer. So very short-tempered._ "

" _Don't talk down to me, you wannabe knight!_ " Brennaraki yipped, accidentally letting go of the fireball, sending it flying into a scorched patch of dirt and setting it ablaze. Before it could spread, a stream of water was dumped into it, extinguishing the flames.

" _Heh, heh… Oops?_ " Brennaraki only received a blank stare from Ronin, directing her to try again. As she turned to do so, Tanuki jumped over them, a speeding Aile hot on his heels.

" _Come on, you Slowpoke!_ " Tanuki taunted, effortlessly leaping from branch to branch.

" _If you'd slow down, I would have caught up to you already!_ " Aile screeched as she sped towards the laughing dog. As she neared, Tanuki suddenly jumped overhead, forcing Aile to sharply bank and turn around. " _Gaagh!_ "

" _Where's the fun in that?_ " Tanuki asked, ducking under Aile once again. " _Besides, we're doing agility training. Part of that is concentrating your energy, converting it into a speed boost, and_ not _immediately releasing it. It's easy, really._ "

" _If it's so easy, why don't you use it!?_ "

" _Because I'm too awesome for it, that's why._ " Tanuki smirked, much to Aile's growing irritation. " _Now, what's it going to take to get you properly motivated. Maybe some food that ends up attracting more Beedrill?_ "

" _How many times do I have to say I'm sorry about that!_ "

" _A lot more would be nice,_ " Brennaraki butted in, accidentally letting lose the fireball once more. " _Dang it… Wait, that one had a small spin to it!_ "

" _Very good. Now, let's try again._ " With renewed confidence, Brennaraki began forming a fireball once more. At the same time, Aile continued her training with Tanuki, determined to finally catch the annoying hound.

* * *

After another exhausting run with Saito, Louise, wheezing from the exercise, trudged back into the clearing, drenched in sweat. Saito, on the other hand, continued to be in good spirits, albeit also covered in sweat.

"Wow, you are _really_ out of shape, huh?" Saito's smirk was audible to the exhausted girl. Before she could wheeze out a retort, Saito pulled out a water bottle and handed it to the girl, who greedily began gulping it down. "Easy, easy. Take it slow, alright?"

"… Thank you," Louise, heeding his advice, finished drinking her water. As she handed the bottle back to the boy, she noticed it was only halfway full. "So, what now? Going to have me do more exercise?" Louise held back the nervousness from her voice the best she can, but it still made itself known.

"Nah, I think we're good for today." Saito's words were like music to Louise's ears.

"Oh, thank the Founder…" Louise sighed in relief. "So, now what do we do?"

"Now, we get to the reason why we are here," Saito turned away from Louise towards the other end of the clearing, where the four Pokémon were still training. "Ronin, Tanuki, it's time for phase two! Come on over!" At Saito's command, the four Pokémon ceased their training and quickly made their way to their trainers. "Now, getting physically stronger and learning new moves is good and all, but unless you know how to properly strategize, they won't mean much."

"Make sense," Louise nodded in agreement. "So, I take it we're going to have a practice battle to work on that?"

"Got it in one," Saito, taking Ronin and Tanuki with him, walked to the far end of the clearing and continued to talk. "Now, we are going to treat this as a mock Gym Challenge, with me as the Gym Leader. As such, I will not be switching out my Pokémon while you can." Saito, arriving at the far end, stopped and turned around. "You ready?"

"Brennaraki, Aile, any progress on Fire Spin and Agility?" Louise whispered to her Pokémon, who nodded in affirmation. "We're ready!"

"Alright, then. Ronin, you're up!" Ronin promptly ran out onto the field, bowing once again to Louise before readying himself. "You take the first move."

"Aile, let's go!" As the tiny bird flew off of Louise's shoulder and hovered over her starting position, Louse wracked her brain, remembering Ronin's previous performance. Coming to a decision, Louise started to give orders. "Take off with Tailwind! Don't stop moving!" Aile, flapping her wings, created a draft of wind and took off, soaring high above the battlefield.

"Air slash, Ronin!" Saito commanded. "Keep her off balance!" Ronin, pulling out his scalchop, began firing compressed slices of air towards the bird, who nimbly dodged them with a series of rolls and dives.

"Dive down and use Agility!" Aile began a rapid descent, dodging yet another Air Slash in the process, a purple sheen covering her body and sped up considerably. "Don't stop using it until I tell you to!"

"Ah, I see. Trying to compensate for when Tailwind goes away?" Saito asked, continuing to watch Ronin attempt to hit the increasingly faster bird.

"Yes, I am," Louise nodded before quickly regaining focus. "Aile, use Quick Attack!" With the added boost to speed Agility gave, Aile practically disappeared as she sped towards Ronin, who continued to fire compressed slices of air towards her. Just before the blow was dealt, Ronin dodge-rolled to the side, receiving only a graze to his right arm.

"Smart, using Agility to increase Aile's force," Saito appraised the strategy, watching Aile bank for another pass. "But, that strategy has a drawback, you know."

"What might that be?" Louise asked, watching Aile speed ever closer to

"It works both ways," Louise's eyes widened in realization as Saito smirked. "Air Slash on the ground!" Aile attempted to pull out at the last minute, but her speed made it impossible as Ronin sliced the ground in front of him and Aile, sending up chunks of dirt, grass, and rock into the air. Aile tried to slow herself down, but her inertia was too great as she flew straight into the cloud of debris and getting buffeted relentlessly before crashing hard into the ground. As she skid across the ground, a small trough was formed after her, only ending once she impacted a tree. As Aile struggled to lift herself off the ground, Louise wracked her brain for an explanation.

"What…what just happened?"

"Newton's First Law: An object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force," Saito began to explain, remembering his high school education. "Sure, by using Agility and Tailwind in conjunction with one another, especially after using Agility multiple times, Aile did increase the force of her attack. But, that also meant that should she need to _stop_ , inertia makes it that much harder. When Aile hit the ground that fast, she might as well have been crashing into concrete."

"…oh," Louise slapped her forehead. "Of course it would."

"Don't get me wrong, it's a sound strategy. It just needs improvement, that's all. Probably use Agility less, and it could work." Saito suggested.

"I'll keep that in mind. Shall we?"

"Sure thing. Ronin, Water Gun!" At that, Ronin let loose a stream of water towards Aile, who jumped over it and took off into the air, the Tailwind dying down as she did so.

' _Come on, think!_ ' Louise thought as she observed the battle, trying to find a weakness to exploit before eying Ronin's arm. "Wait a second… Aile, skim just over the ground and fly towards Ronin!" Aile, confused as towards Louise's thought, complied and proceeded to do so. As she sped across the ground, dodging streams of water, a small dust cloud was generating underneath and behind her, a cloud that was only increasing in size.

 _'What are you planning?_ ' Saito thought to himself, eyeing the bird closely, who continued to get ever closer to Ronin.

"Now, bank!" At Louise's command, Aile sharply banked while the dust cloud kept going forward straight into Ronin. The Oshawatt could only shield his face from the debris, making him lose track of Aile. Regaining his composure as the dust cloud settled, he searched for Aile, his eyes rapidly shifting to and from areas of interest, only to find no trace of the small bird. "Quick Attack on his arm!" Louise suddenly shouted, causing Ronin's eyes to widen as Aile shot forward and, unable to get out of the way in time, received a direct blow to his wounded arm.

"Ronin!" Saito shouted, seeing his starter cry out in pain. Before he could respond, Louise issued another order.

"Latch on and keep using Peck!" Aile promptly wrapped herself around Ronin and began to rapidly peck the arm like a woodpecker, each sharp jab sending ripples of pain up Ronin's arm, who struggled to remove the bird. He began delivering sharp jabs to Aile in a desperate attempt to get the bird off, but unable to do so, he fell to his knees in pain.

"Okay, that's enough!" Saito called out, the battle promptly ending with Aile detaching herself from Ronin and Ronin, grasping his arm, walking over to Saito. "Kind of a cheap move, right there." Saito commented, eyebrow raised, as he applied a potion to Ronin's arm.

"What, you don't approve?" Louise smirked and patted Aile on the head.

"Against my Pokémon, certainly. From a practical standpoint, however, that was smart. Good job," Saito replied as he stood up. "You ready to keep going?"

"Of course." Louise confidently stated, Aile flying back onto the field, lower to the ground than the start of the first round.

"Alright then. Tanuki, avenge Ronin!" Tanuki, at Saito's orders, leapt out onto the field and landed in a three-point landing, glaring at Aile with a slight frown, his normal cheerfulness gone.

"…this is going to suck, isn't it?" Louise, her previous confidence gone, gulped. Tanuki promptly answered by stomping on a nearby flat rock, launching it into the air. Before Louise or Aile could respond, Tanuki delivered a roundhouse kick to the rock, sending it flying straight into Aile, who crashed to the ground in a heap, her eyes looking like swirls. "…Guess that answers my question."

"I'm just going to point out, that was Tanuki's idea, not mine," Saito pointed to a now jolly Tanuki, who was happy to avenge his comrade.

"Figured as such," Louise grumbled, returning Aile to her Luxury Ball and sending out Brennaraki. "Well, I'm not going to let this insult slide! Brennaraki, Psywave!" Brennaraki promptly fired off a wave of psychic energy, its cascading form shooting towards Tanuki.

"Dodge then use Quick Attack!" Tanuki, already preparing to dodge, cartwheeled out of the way and shot himself forward, attempting to tackle Brennaraki to the ground. Jumping out of the way, Brennaraki launched another psychic wave towards Tanuki, who used Quick Attack to dodge out of the way.

"Ooh, that's clever. I should use that…" Louise mused to herself. "But that's for later. Brennaraki, let's try out Fire Spin!" Heeding Louise's command, Brennaraki formed a fireball in her mouth and began to rotate it, turning the small ember into a fiery twister and launching it towards Tanuki. Jumping out of the way, Tanuki, with pride in his eyes, gazed upon the twisting inferno, which remained in place. He, however, did not, as he backflipped over another Psywave. "Scorch the land!" Taking a cue from Viola and her Surskit, Brennaraki began firing more and more Fire Spins and Embers, forming a ring of fire that surrounded the two Pokémon, constricting their movements.

"Limiting his space to dodge, nice touch," Saito commented. "Tanuki, use Meteor Mash!" With a glowing paw, Tanuki rushed towards Brennaraki, who jumped into the raging inferno to escape the blow. Unable to safely follow, Tanuki held back and retreated towards the circle's center, tuning his sense to try and find the fire fox.

"Brennaraki, Ember!" Louise's voice suddenly shouted, directing Tanuki's attention towards a large fireball erupting out of the flames. Jumping over the attack, Tanuki had to lean back upon landing to dodge yet another fireball, this one coming from a different angle.

"Oh ho ho, using the fire as cover! That is nice!" Saito praised the tactic, causing Louise to erupt into a smile. As Tanuki continued to effortlessly dodge the Embers, now joined by Psywaves, Saito analyzed the situation, trying to find a way out. "Tanuki, use Quick Attack straight up!"

Understanding Saito's logic, Tanuki leapt upwards into the air, his jump boosted by the additional speed Quick Attack had given him. Curving himself midflight, Tanuki arced over the firewall, barely getting past the barrier, but receiving a slight burn in the process. Seeing her chance, Brennaraki launched another Ember at the hurt Riolu, only to be surprised when a glowing paw caught the fireball, holding it in place.

"… Huh. Did not know he could do that," Saito admitted, dumbfounded over the development, as was Louise and Brennaraki. Smiling, Tanuki threw the fireball back at Brennaraki, striking her in the face and following up with a Quick Attack. Taking the momentum forward, Tanuki landed blow after blow on the fire fox, dodging any attempts at retaliation she threw at him.

"Stop!" Louise yelled out, halting the battle in its tracks. "I yield." Nodding to her, Saito directed Ronin to begin putting out the flames while he and Louise began administering medicine to the injured Pokémon.

"Not bad," Saito stated as he and Louise worked. "You're learning. Pretty quickly, I might add."

"Thank you. Think I'm ready for Viola, yet?"

"Not just yet. Maybe tomorrow," Saito advised. Unlike last time, Louise nodded in agreement.

* * *

Hello, everybody! Here is the latest chapter for Outsiders! Louise and Saito have officially begun their training, and as you can see she is taking the lessons to heart. One thing that characterizes Louise the best is that she does not give up and always works her hardest to improve. But here is the difference. Back in Halkegenia, she was surrounded by less than supportive people. This did not create the best environment for her, hence why she would frequently lash out in an attempt to prove herself. Here in Kalos, however, she is surrounded by people who want to help her and don't put her down. Sycamore, her Pokémon, and now Saito. She is in a much better place to grow in a much more positive direction, and that is something that we wanted to emphasize.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **MAJORMATT1234** : Yep. We wanted Louise to lose against Viola hard. There is no realistic reason why she, a complete newbie to Pokémon as a whole, would beat Viola, an experienced Gym Leader. And the beat down was so severe that Louise, who knew that Saito, a person she had a decent relationship with, had a Gym Badge, she swallowed her pride and asked for help.

As for other conflicts, stay tuned for those.

 **Jyoster** : Yep, rookie mistakes are inevitable. That is for sure. And yes, we were inspired by Ash's first loss to Viola. There is a reason why we nicknamed the Surskit she had the Hellskit.

 **MBenz4268** : That is a good headcanon and one that we share as well. Part of the reason behind Pokémon Journeys are that they serve as a rite of passage to people. It does create a sense of humility to people. This isn't like what Shudo originally intended. His original plan was for most trainers to become deadbeats and losers. He also wanted the series to end with a Pokémon revolution against humans, but Nintendo obviously put that down. Here, Pokémon training is mostly portrayed in a positive light, as it is in the series as a whole.

 **PokemonFan93** : The thing about how the battle goes actually stems from a practical decision on our end. One of the things that we noticed about a lot of different Pokémon stories is that the action gets broken up by given orders. It messes with the flow, and as such we did not want to do that. Plus, since we are doing a slightly more realistic take on Pokémon as a whole in terms of how things operate, we decided that trainers are less like generals giving orders and more like Coaches. They occasionally give orders, yes, but for the most part merely teach Pokémon how to better use their abilities and get stronger. As for PP and other more game related stuff, we tried to incorporate elements of it in a more realistic fashion. So, with PP, the more a Pokémon uses a specific move, the weaker it gets. It is less of a "bullets in a magazine" and more "water in a tank". Eventually, as the energy gets extinguished, the tank empties, and what comes out is less and less until it can't anymore until it gets replenished.

Also, I forgot to mention this back at the end of Episode 1. SwiftRosenthal, our original editor, left the project after this point. However, most of the Pre-Story planning was done with him, so he does deserve much of the credit for this story. As for our current editor, PurveyorOfBadIdeas had graciously taken over the post. For that, me, Grendel4823, Firebird Zoom, Catboy41, and wildrook all thank you.

We hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned tomorrow for the next chapter of Outsiders!


	13. Season 1, Episode 4, Chapter 3

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 4, Chapter 3**

* * *

After a long day of training, for both her and her Pokémon, Louise was exhausted. She ran, crunched, pushed, pulled, every conceivable exercise Saito could think of, she did it. That wasn't to say it was just her. To his credit, Saito joined in, every step of the way, and by now was just as exhausted.

"I… I think we're good…" Saito breathed out, eyeing the sun as began its descent. "Let's…set up camp. I don't think we can make it back to Santalune before it gets dark."

"Thank…you…" Louise, currently sprawled out on the forest floor, wheezed as she struggled to get to her feet, only to be lent a helping hand by Saito. As she rose to her feet, she hunched over to catch her breath. "How…often should I do this…?"

"Once every few days, really…" Saito admitted. "Granted, you'll be hiking a lot, which should suffice most of the time, but doing some dedicated exercise days wouldn't hurt. At the very least, the more you do it, the easier it gets."

"I…keep that in mind," Louise said, straightening herself. Saito had already pulled out his camping supplies, which like her included a tent, sleeping bag, and a portable stove. Unlike hers, his were obviously cheaper and of lower quality, more suited for standard weather rather than extremes. Following his lead, she opened her backpack and pulled out her sleeping bag and rolled it out on the forest floor.

"What are you doing?" Saito asked, his eyebrows raised and widened in confusion as to what he was seeing.

"I'm setting up camp," Louise replied, continuing to roll out her sleeping bag.

"Where's your tent? Oh Arceus, please tell me you have one."

"I have one! I just…don't know how to set it up…" Louise blushed from embarrassment, feeling Saito's gaze bore into her.

"… Then, where is it?" At Saito's request, Louise reached into her backpack and pulled out the tube containing her tent, handing it over to Saito. Promptly opening it, Saito could only sigh in resignation at the sight of the snarled heap that was the improperly managed tent.

"What happened? Why is it like this?"

"Heh, heh… Well, you see, I tried once to set it up, and when it didn't go very well and almost got ripped, I…put it away."

"You call _this_ ," Saito pointed to the tent in emphasis, "'putting it away'? How long has it been like this?"

"…about a week," Louise was practically red at this point, while Saito looked increasingly exasperated.

"When did you get it?"

"…right before I left Lumiose…a week ago…"

"… How long did it take for you to travel down Route 4?"

"…a week…"

"…are you telling me that you spent an entire week in the wild, with nothing but the clothes on your back and a sleeping bag to protect you while you slept?"

"…I had Brennaraki to keep me warm…" Louise could only meekly nod, causing Saito to slap himself.

"Didn't it rain once last week on Route 4?"

"I never actually got hit by that. It went away right before it got to me," Louise admitted. "Got lucky, I guess. Only good bit of it I had that week…"

"Arceus…," Saito sighed. "Okay, new plan. I'm teaching you how to set up a tent. Now, where are the instructions? And I swear, if you say that you threw them out, so help me…" Saito stopped once he pulled out the instruction booklet, still in its plastic container.

"… Those were instructions?"

"Just…get over here before I blow a gasket…"

* * *

"See, isn't this so much better?" Saito and his smug look irritated Louise, but she had to admit, sitting inside of her freshly assembled tent, he was correct. It was rapidly getting dark, and with the clouds obscuring the moonlight, the only source of light was the firepit Brennaraki, currently held in Louise's arms, had lit up.

"Yes, it is. You can stop being so smug now." Her glare only might Saito laugh. Nevertheless, the acquiesced and turned his attention back to the fire.

"So," Saito began, "I wanted to ask you something."

"Is it about my home?" Louise threw out a guess and sighed. "You still don't believe me, do you?"

"It's not that I don't, it's just…" Saito struggled to find the words. "Look, as I said before, your being from another world would certainly explain many things about you. It's just…you never really explained just why you are so obsessed with 'proving your worth'."

"I already told you," Louise sighed. "If I don't prove my worth, I don't get to go home. It's as simple as that."

"I doubt _that_ more than your original story," Saito declared, shocking Louise into silence. "With the way you've acted, I seriously doubt that all of _this_ ," Saito waved his hand above his head in emphasis, "started with your arrival in Lumiose. Something tells me, this goes deeper. Am I right?"

Louise could only stare at Saito, unsure of how to answer. Seeing her unease, Saito shook his head.

"Forget I said anything. Sorry for—"

"I was born the youngest of three daughters of the Vallière family," Louise's soft voice rang out over the camp, catching Saito's attention. "The Vallières are among the most important families in the entirety of Tristain, my home kingdom, second only to the royal family. My mother, Karin de la Vallière, is the most powerful mage my country has ever produced. A war hero, who formerly commanded the Manticore Knights. My father, he was a general, who led Tristain's armies for many years."

Silently making a note to ask what kind of Pokémon a 'manticore' was, Saito leaned forward. "So, with such a huge importance already placed on your family…"

"That same importance was placed onto me from the very beginning. I was expected to be everything a noble was supposed to be. Confident, powerful, superior in every way. At first, things were…perfect. Life at the Vallière estate was peaceful. I had friends from all over the kingdom. My early magical studies, all from the best tutors my family had, were exceptional. I was even the personal playmate to Princess Henrietta…" Louise trailed off.

"What changed?" Saito asked, seeing where things were going. Taking a deep breath, Louise continued.

"…When nobles turn eight, that's when we move from mere magical theory to practice. This is when nobles find their affinities, which element they are most attuned to. When I held my wand, my father's old wand, in my hand for the first time, I was so excited. The ultimate proof of what separates nobility from commoners, and I was about to do it," Louise took a deep breath before continuing on.

"My first spell was supposed to be one that, once casted, would determine your elemental affinity. It was a simple beginner spell, one that anyone could cast. But I didn't get fire, or water, or wind, or earth. No, I wasn't that lucky. Instead, I blew up half the room."

"Your first spell was an explosion?" Saito asked in worry. "Was anyone hurt?"

"No one was hurt, thank the Founder, but no one knew why it happened. Of course, now I know it's because I'm a Void mage, but back then they thought I miscast it, somehow, so I tried again. Another explosion. After a while, it became clear to everyone that I could not cast magic."

"But…you created an explosion from nothing. Even for me, that's obviously magic."

"It wasn't done _right_!" Louise shouted, standing up in rage. "We tried for months to figure out what was going wrong! Again, and again, spell after spell, incantation after incantation, the result was always the same! Another explosion! It wouldn't matter what affinity we tried, they all failed!" Louise snarled at the memory, tightly clenching her fists and grinding her teeth. Upon seeing Saito's surprised face, she took a deep breath and sat back down.

"After that, things started falling apart. My family stopped hiring tutors, my friends stopped associating themselves with me out of fear. My oldest sister, Éléonore, took the frustration of her failed engagement out on me, while my parents started having me take marriage classes, to make me a better wife. I even lost Henrietta after I covered for her at a party. If it weren't for my other sister, Cattleya, I would have been completely alone…" Shaking her head and steeling her eyes, Louise looked up and stared into the fire.

"My family may had given up on me, but I refused to give up. I started studying on my own, without tutors, determined to find out just what was causing my ailment. For years, I tried to cast a successful spell, only to fail every single time. Eventually, though, I convinced my family to let me go to the Tristainian Academy of Magic, the greatest institute of learning on the entire continent. I thought things would change for the better, that I would finally be a proper mage."

"I take it that's not what happened, is it?" Saito suggested, to which Louise nodded.

"The exact same thing happened all over again, only now it wasn't private. Once again, I was alienated. Only, this time, things got _worse_."

"…How?" Saito asked, anger beginning to rise towards what he knew was coming.

"The students didn't just _avoid_ me. No, they _tormented_ me," Louise emphasized. "For over a year, I was subjected to constant ridicule, laughter, mockery, denials of me being a noble. The 'Zero', they called me, because I could do 'zero' magic. The only thing they _didn't_ do was any physical harm, not that it helped. All of which was led by Kirche von Zerbst. She was the worst, by far. She was the one who started it, and everyone else followed her lead."

"Why would she do that?" Saito was fuming at this point. "You couldn't control the fact that you could only cast explosions."

"No, but her family and mine have feuded for generations. She likely saw tormenting me as continuing the family tradition…" Louise paused to clench her fist in anger before moving on. "I _desperately_ wanted to prove them wrong, so every chance I could take to perform a spell I did. As always, only an explosion occurred, which only made things worse. By the end of my first year, my teachers were about to give up on me, as well."

"Which is why you were so focused on the 'summoning', I take it?" Saito pointed out. He may not believe this part of the story, but he could certainly believe the bullying part.

"It was my last chance. If I had failed my summoning, I would have been sent home. When I failed the first time, I tried again. When I failed again, I tried for a third time. And you already know what happened then…" Louise trailed off, her story finished. A silence descended over the camp, oppressive and heavy.

"Your classmates sound like assholes," Saito declared, shocking Louise. "Now, I still don't necessarily believe your story about coming from another world and talking to Arceus, but you going to a school and being bullied for something you couldn't control? _That's_ universal, no matter where you are, and you didn't deserve that."

"…thank you," Louise's soft voice came out. Deciding to change the subject, Louise cleared her throat. "How long until we start eating?"

"I was about to start, actually," Saito stood up and went to his backpack, pulling out a portable stove, some pans, and some patties out of a cooler. "Ever have hamburgers?"

"No, actually," Louise answered, happy to have moved onto the subject of food.

"Oh, you're in for a treat."

* * *

"Saito! Come on, let's go! I want to get my Gym Badge!" the voice of Louise rang out from outside of Saito's tent. Groggy, Saito unzipped his tent door, only to see Louise already dressed and ready to go, with the notable exception of her tent. Looking out, he could see that the sun was only just rising, meaning that once again Louise had woken him up at the crack of dawn.

"…what is with you and getting up at dawn?" Saito groaned.

"It's something my mother drilled into us when we were little. Early to bed, early to rise," Louise replied, her hands resting on her hips.

"…I thought you went to bed that early because you ate five hamburgers and went into a food coma…" Saito flatly responded, making Louise squirm.

"Heh, well you see… Wait, why am I explaining myself to you?!" Louise shrieked back, her face blushing. Outstretching her hand towards a smirking Saito, she continued. "Now get out here! And don't try to pull that 'patience is a virtue' excuse, again."

"Heh, whatever you say," Saito joked as he zipped back up his tent to prepare himself. "Need me to help you put away your tent before we go?"

"…yes, please…"

* * *

The two now fully dressed, they quickly began packing their tents, Saito taking extra care to fully explain the process to an attentive Louise. Under his guidance, she quickly caught on, and soon she was packing the tent with newfound confidence, something Saito was beginning to recognize as a pattern. Louise, he noted, was a person that did not have a lot of the common knowledge others took for granted, but once she pushed herself to learn, she quickly grasped it. Case in point, her marked improvement in their practice battles. He himself was confident that she stood a decent chance this time. She, on the other hand, was not so sure.

"Louise, you'll be fine," he reassured his nervous travelling companion.

"I know that, but…still," Louise answered. During the trip back into Santalune, Louise's confidence began to drop as she neared the site of her biggest failure thus far in this new world. "It's just… Last time was _awful_. I've never lost that badly before."

"Most first losses against Gym Leaders are. I told you: losing to them, especially on your first time, is expected," Saito patted Louise on the shoulder. "Besides, you know what to expect now. Last time, you went in overconfident and didn't take the challenge seriously. Now, you know just how strong she is."

"That's the problem…" Louise grumbled as she neared the Gym. Stopping at the front door, she took a deep breath and, with Saito once again encouraging her, stepped into the building. Nothing had changed since the last time she had entered, except for a few more framed photographs. The entrance to the Gym Arena was still locked, the same couldn't be said for the audience stand. With that entrance open, Saito nodded to Louise and made his way in, leaving Louise alone in the foyer. Nervously rocking back and forth, Louise began looking at the various photographs, both new and old. One caught her eye, one of a Beedrill in combat. Moving to get a better look, Louise was puzzled to find the Beedrill to look familiar.

"That one's my favorite," Louise jumped as a voice suddenly sounded right behind her. Whirling around, Louise was surprised to see the voice belonged to Viola, busy appraising her work. "You just get the raw emotion of the moment right there. The anger, the rage, that Beedrill burned brightly with it. I was just lucky enough to catch it on film."

"… I can see it," Louise, looking closer, agreed. "Is this… Is this from a few days ago?"

"It is," Viola nodded. "This is a picture of the Queen."

"But the Queen Mega-Evolved. Why did it change back?" Louise raised her eyebrow in confusion. "Why did it Mega-Evolve in the first place, even? Professor Sycamore was adamant about needing a keystone for the transformation."

"I'm no expert in Mega-Evolution, unfortunately, so I can't answer either of those questions. But, I suspect Augustine can," the Gym Leader answered. "All I know is that once you and Saito finally fled, the Queen reverted back to her regular form. Didn't make her any less angry, though, something I am glad to have caught here."

At Viola's explanation, Louise fell silent, trying to wrap her head around that sequence of events. The whole thing was confusing to her, and if she had to guess it had something to do with her magic. Shaking her head and putting the question away for later, she turned to look Viola straight in the eye.

"Viola Pansy, I, Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière, hereby challenge you to a rematch," Louise, with as much confidence as she could muster, declared. Viola, in response, merely smirked.

"I accept."

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Sorry its a little late, but better late than never. Louise and Saito have now finished their training montage of sorts and are now ready for their rematch. Louise also discovered hamburgers and the dangers of indulgence, but she won't admit that.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **MBenz4268** : Yep, Shudo can be credited with creating the Pokémon anime we all grew up on as kids, but a lot of his ideas would not have worked for the franchise. Nintendo was wise to tell him to cut it out. Also, we love headcanons that explain the world as well. For example, the Natural Selection theory we had was a headcanon of ours that we decided to incorporate.

 **PokemonFan93** : Stupid dog and Stupid Saito are two of Louise's most famous lines, after all. Since Saito is in this story, we decided that the use of them fit. And yes, Louise is a very determined person, which is an admirable quality of hers. And yes, she will be able to more easily grow in Kalos than she would in Halkegenia. By the time she is done, she will still be that spitfire we all know and love, but she will have grown so much. And that is the point of a Pokémon journey.

Anyways, stay tuned tomorrow for the first part of the Gym Challenge: The Practical!


	14. Season 1, Episode 4, Chapter 4

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)**

 **Season 1, Episode 4, Chapter 4**

* * *

"Do you remember our last battle, Louise?" Viola asked, with Santalune Forest to her back and Louise to her front.

"… Vividly," Louise shuddered, both at the memory and the sight of that dreadful forest. "Why?"

"Then you remember the referee talking about a practical challenge?" Viola crossed her arms, an expectant look appearing on her face.

"I think I remember something about that," Louise nodded. "I take it that's why we're out here?"

"You got it. It is a recent requirement, so I'm not surprised you don't know much about it. You see, every Gym Challenge has two parts: a test of sorts, and a battle. Normally, we do a test first, meant to test the knowledge of a trainer and the bonds with their Pokémon," Viola lectured to an attentive Louise. "Due to extenuating circumstances, we skipped the test last time, but, now that the forest is safe again, I feel confident that you can safely perform it."

"That makes sense. Not everything a trainer does is battle oriented."

"You catch on fast. Good, you'll need it here," Viola smiled and pointed out towards the forest. "Your challenge is simple, and, given how we met, quite appropriate. Somewhere in Santalune Forest lies a single Bug Badge. It is hidden, and your job is to find it."

"Sounds simple enough," Louise began to march into the forest, only to be stopped by Viola's outreached arm.

"I wasn't done explaining the challenge just yet," Viola's smile turned into a smirk, causing Louise to gulp. "There are two conditions to pass the test and thereby earn your right to battle me. One, you have two hours to not only find the Bug Badge, but to bring it back here. Two, no items or technology are allowed. You must work with your Pokémon and use the natural environment to find your way."

"What?! Why?" Louise shrieked. "Why would I go into a forest unsupplied? Even _I_ know that's stupid!"

"Under normal circumstances, you would be right. However, there may be times where you don't have those supplies," Viola then began to count, extending a finger with each point. "You may run out, and the nearest town is miles away. A wild Pokémon may steal them. They may get damaged and need replacement. It may even be as simple as losing battery power or getting expired. The point is, Louise, trainers need to know how to survive without those supplies and still get to their destination."

"I…guess that makes sense," Louise reluctantly took off her back pack, pulling out Brennaraki and Aile's Luxury Balls. "No Pokéballs, either?" Viola nodded, and with a sigh, Louise released her Pokémon. As they came out, they quickly noticed the forest and sighed as well.

"I know, I know. But, we go in there and get the badge, and we _never_ have to go in there again," Louise suddenly had a thought pop into her head and turned to look at Viola. "That is true, right? Even if I lose?"

"While I can't guarantee that you will never go in there again, at very least it won't be from me. If you pass a test, they don't get repeated." Louise nodded at this and turned, only for Viola to cough. "One more thing. My Pokémon have placed markers at the edge of the search area. The badge is within its boundaries. As for its location, head south to the far end of the marked area. There, you will find a small stump with the Bug Badge embedded on it. Here is a picture to help you identify it."

"Thanks, I guess…" Louise gulped as she took hold of the picture. As Viola indicated, the Bug Badge was indeed embedded into a small stump, hidden inside a small grove of trees. Based off the light cascading down from above, it must have a small opening in the canopy to let in sunlight. Putting the picture away in her pocket, Loiuse began to march back into the forest, only to pause right at its entrance. She looked back at a beckoning Viola before facing the forest once again. Taking a deep breath, her eyes steeled as she took her first step.

* * *

While Louise hiked through the woods once again, Saito and his Pokémon remained in the Gym itself, currently watching her progress on a giant screen. Viola had attached a video camera to one of her Ninjasks, and it was currently following her like a cameraman. Their attention focused purely on Louise's efforts, they barely noticed the door open until Viola sat down among them.

"Viola," Saito respectfully nodded, directing his attention back onto the screen.

"Saito," Viola nodded back, her eyes never leaving the screen. "In case you're worried, she's in no actual danger. We cleared the area of anything particularly powerful. If things get too hairy for her, my Pokémon are in the immediate area just in case something goes wrong."

"I figured," Saito shrugged. "To be honest, this sort of test is perfect for her."

"Yeah, she needed this," Viola trailed off as Louise entered a new area of the forest, carefully searching every nook and cranny for a clue. "I'm fairly confident she'll pass. Someone like her, once they put their mind to something, they'll do it, no matter how hard it is or how long it takes." At this, Viola and Saito chuckled.

"That sounds about right. She's stubborn to a fault. I have first hand experience of that…"

"Speaking of which, how's the arm?" Viola turned to look at Saito, who moved the arm in question around as a response.

"It's fine now, thanks for asking." Redirecting his attention back onto the screen, he watched as Louise came across a boundary marker.

* * *

"Stupid forest…," Louise grumbled to herself as she stared at the red boundary marker. It had only been ten minutes since the test had started, and so far it hasn't been off to a great start. Stomping her feet, Louise fumed before forcing herself to calm down. "Okay, just picking random directions isn't working. Think Louise, think. Small stump in a grove under a skylight… How am I supposed to find that if I don't know where I'm going?" As Louise continued to grumble, Aile chirped, took off from Louise's shoulder, and fluttered in mid air before landing back on the ground. Louise squinted her eyes, trying to find Aile's meaning, only for them for widen in sudden realization. "Aile, can't believe we didn't do this at first, can you fly above the tree tops and direct us to the nearest clearing?" Aile chirped in affirmation as she took off, speeding through the tree canopy.

"…You know, it is so nice that I don't have to bribe her to do anything anymore," Louise gazed towards the fresh hole Aile made, hearing a small yelp from Brennaraki in agreement. Soon enough, Aile came back down with a happy chirp, having found a tree that matched the description. "Good job, Aile. Tell you what, you take us to the badge, and I'll give you some honey as a treat." Aile let out a happy chirp at that news and began to fly off, Louise and Brennaraki following.

* * *

"She's learning," Saito observed as he watch Louise follow Aile's form. "She told me it took her nearly an hour to start asking Aile to help find you when she last went in. Here, it took ten minutes."

"Probably doesn't hurt that Aile seems to be much more willing to cooperate, now," at Saito's confused look, Viola chucked. "Please, I saw you two walk into the clearing and what Aile did. I recognized Aile's displeasure at being captured almost immediately. It appears that a brush with death caused her to appreciate her trainer more, and quell her appetite… You're still angry at her, aren't you?"

"A little bit, yeah."

* * *

With Aile now taking the lead, Louise and her Pokémon trekked through the forest at a much brisker pace, happy to finally be making progress. There were a few wild Weedles, Caterpies, and Scatterbugs that attacked them, but after only one or two attacks they were quickly driven off. During those encounters, Louise told her Pokemon to not interfere and to let each Pokemon take on one at a timing. Her reasoning was that the actual gym battle against Viola would operate the same way. In the end, It wasn't long until the group came across the clearing Aile had spotted, but upon closer examination found a distinct lack of badges. Although slightly disappointed, the three continued on.

"I think we're getting closer, now," Louise mused as Aile flew above the canopy once more, gauging their progress towards their now third clearing. As they entered, they sighed in resignation as they noticed a distinct lack of a stump. "Okay, this isn't working. We can't simply go from clearing to clearing hoping it is the correct one. Any ideas, guys?" Louise looked to her Pokémon, hoping they might have a suggestion. After a while, Brennaraki raised her paw, like a student would to a teacher.

"Yes, Brennaraki? You have an idea?" Louise asked. With the attention now on her, Brennaraki, using her paw for emphasis, began repeatedly pointing between herself, Aile, and Louise. At first, Louise was confused, but her face soon lit up in recognition. "Oh, charades! What are you trying to say? All of us together?" At her answer, Brennaraki happily yipped and nodded before proceeding to walk in place and crossing her arms in an 'x'.

"I don't… X marks the spot?" Aile shook her head and repeated her movements. "This isn't the right spot?" Brennaraki's glare at Louise made the young mage blush. As Brennaraki once again repeated her movements, Louise snapped her fingers. "Oh, us going together is not working out!" Brennaraki once again happily yipped and proceeded to walk over to Aile. Tapping the slightly confused bird on the back, Brennaraki pointed repeatedly to the sky, while she proceeded to sit down with added emphasis.

"…I see where you are getting at… Aile, we need you to go out and find the stump. Don't just fly around and direct us to the nearest clearing. Go and search for the correct one, then come back and lead us to it. Okay?" At Louise's order, Aile chirped and took off, leaving Brennaraki and Louise alone.

"…What?" Louise asked as Brennaraki looked at her with a smug look. "Don't give me that look. I would have come up with it eventually."

* * *

Soaring above the treetops, Aile's mind swirled with a myriad array of thoughts: Which clearing housed the badge? Would they be able to make it there and back to the bug lady in time? What would they have for dinner that night, and would honey be involved? These questions all took a backseat to the one at the forefront of Aile's mind.

 _'Why? Why did she try to save me? Even though it was all my fault?_ ' Aile thought to herself as she flew over another empty clearing.

Ever since she nearly caused the group to become Beedrill chow just a few days before, Aile had been consumed with guilt. Saito and the other Pokémon hadn't fully forgiven her yet, giving her sideways glares or offhand comments. All of which served to only amplify her guilt. And yet, for whatever reason, Louise did not seem to be holding it against her and just seemed to be relieved that she was alright. She couldn't wrap her head around it, even now.

' _It doesn't make any sense…_ ' Aile almost flew over another clearing, she was so distracted, but before she could, a bright shine coming from below caught her attention. Directing her gaze down, Aile spotted a tree stump, lying in a small grove. Excitement building, she swooped down to get a closer look. As she neared, the image of a brown, insect-like badge, enclosed in a glass container and embedded in the tree stump, revealed itself to Aile.

" _Finally!_ " Aile spun with glee before quickly recomposing herself and speeding off towards Louise and Brennaraki.

' _I might not be able to take back what I did, but I can at least make up for it,_ ' she thought to herself as she neared her trainer, who upon noticing Aile's entrance, stood up with a smile on her face.

* * *

"Looks like they found it," Saito smiled and placed his hands behind his head. "Won't be long now."

"I guess so," Viola rose to her feet and walking to the door. "Tell me, how much did you and Louise train, yesterday?"

"Guess you'll find out," Saito's smirk caused Viola to chuckle lightly before heading outside. As she did, the smirk on Saito's face slowly disappeared, turning to a solemn, neutral frown. "Guess I'll find out."

* * *

As before, only now actually having the correct destination, Louise and Brennaraki followed Aile through the forest. A few more wild Pokémon made themselves known, but by this point dispatching them had become almost second nature. It wouldn't be long until the Badge was retrieved, and so Louise turned her attention to planning for the battle, her most important upcoming task.

' _If it weren't for that Ninjask, then I could actually_ talk _about my plan…_ ' Louise thought to herself grumpily. Aile had noticed the camera-strapped Ninjask earlier, and it wasn't hard to connect the dots. Viola was likely watching them, ostensibly to ensure Louise was safe. She appreciated that, but it also made her frustrated, as that meant that any strategy discussion could be overheard.

' _And if mother and father taught me anything, its that to never let your enemy, or opponent in this case, know your plan._ ' With the advice of her much more strategically-aligned parents in mind, Louise held her tongue, her mind running through scenario after scenario. They all held the same conclusion: that Surskit's Ice Beam, and more importantly its effect on the battle field, was the primary threat. She _had_ to take it out or at the very least mitigate its effects. Otherwise, her efforts would be for naught. So focused on the upcoming battle, Louise barely even noticed a red and green bug with dull orange eyes crawl in front of her until she nearly stepped on it.

"Uggh, more bugs," Louise grunted as she stepped away from the insect, who appeared to take greivous offense at her choice of words, judging by the amount of noise it was making. Aile, minding her trainer's previous command, rested on a tree branch that overlooked the battle. "Brennaraki, send it away." With an equally irritated eye-roll, Brennaraki sent out a small flame towards the poisonous larvae, only for it to arch itself backwards, away from the fireball, and release an ear-piercing screech.

"Okay, wasn't expecting that… Brennaraki, box it in with Fi—" Louise stopped herself, remembering Viola's watching eyes. Not wanting to tip her hand just yet, Louise shifted tactics. "Use Ember on it. Try to box it in, don't let it dodge."

Brennaraki nodded then proceeded to do as instructed. She shot out three fireballs towards the insect, scorching the ground around it, the heat making it unable to dodge. Hissing, the Insect spat a glob of sickly greenish gunk at Brennaraki, who nimbly dodged over and shot out another fireball. This one glanced the top of the Bug-type's head, who hissed in pain before curling into a ball and launched its self towards the fox. Brennaraki leapt to the side, dodging it entirely, before launching yet another fireball at its retreating form. Undeterred, the spinning Insect gave a sharp turn and quickly barreled straight through the fireball and narrowing missed Brennaraki as she jumped out of the way at the last second, causing the Insect to overshoot and slam into a tree, causing it to uncurl and proceeded to hiss angrily at the pair.

"Alright then… Brennaraki, alternate between Psybeam and Ember! Don't let up!" Louise ordered, wanting to rid herself of this pest. Brennaraki, now annoyed, shot out a series of psychic waves and fireballs, alternating between each. In turn, the strange pillbug responded by spitting more of that green gunk and darting forward as a spinning ball again. This continued for a few minutes with the insect switching between trying to run Brennaraki, and occasionally Louise, over and lobbing globs of mucus whenever it was uncurled. The Insect was fairly good, Louise would give it that. She might even have considered catching it, had she had access to her Luxury Balls. But, given how she didn't have access to them, she had to pass on the opportunity as Brennaraki was starting to wear the pillbug down.

The Insect apparently realized this after eating another fireball during one of its spitting attempts and seemed to decide on an all or nothing attack, curling back up into a ball it launched itself forward, but instead of directly running straight at Brennaraki it rolled around the area seemingly building up speed. When it finally went for Brennaraki it uncurled and shot forward at the fox and latched onto the foxes leg. While yelping in pain, Brennaraki didn't miss the opportunity since the Insect was finally still and not spitting at her and immediately launched a Fireball and Psybeam, causing it to immediately screech in pain and release its hold. When it recovered the Insect apparently decided that it had enough and as quick as it could, started scuttling for the trees.

"Good job, Brennaraki," Louise congratulated the fire fox, who turned around to smile at Louise. As she began to walk back towards her trainer, however, a sudden jolt erupted from her leg, and with a whimper of pain, collapsed.

"Brennaraki!" Louise cried out, rushing towards her fallen starter. Aile, now concerned, flew down from her perch to get a closer look. "What's wrong!" Louise comforted her starter as the two looked her over. Gently guiding her hands over Brennaraki's leg, Louise stopped as she felt the area where the insect bit her, and gasped as she felt some of that greenish mucus matting some of the fur around the wound.

"She's been poisoned," Louise concluded, pulling the barb from her Pokémon's leg. She reached for her bag, only to grasp empty air. "Oh, no…" Louise gasped. Without her antidotes, they couldn't help Brennaraki, who continued to whimper in pain. She desperately looked around the forest, hoping for something, anything to help her Pokémon, only to stop at the branch Aile used as a perch. As she did, the memory of Aile's untimely feast came to mind, only instead of frustration coming forth, it was inspiration.

"Aile, do you know what a Pecha Berry is? It's a small, pink, heart shaped berry with two green leaves on top," Aile quickly nodded in immediate understanding and darted off into the wood, leaving behind Louise to comfort Brennaraki.

"It's going to be okay, girl. It's going to be okay," Louise rubbed the top of Brennaraki's head, calming her somewhat. It wasn't long until Aile flew back, carrying a small branch with Pecha Berries proudly front and center. Her faith in her Pokémon rewarded, Louise gently pried a berry loose from the branch before feeding it to her Pokémon, who struggled to push it down but managed to do so. After a few tense moments, Brennaraki opened her eyes and got to her feet, her previous pain subsided.

"Oh, thank the Founder," Louise hugged her starter in relief before rising to her feet. "Come on, we're almost there," she called out, with both Brennaraki and Aile sounding off in approval. Pocketing a few of the extra Pecha Berries into her pocket, just in case, Louise and her Pokémon marched further into the forest. The rest of the trip was uneventful, with no other Pokémon making themselves known. Eventually, the group reached a small grove of trees, with the unusually large and malformed stump lying in its center. Sighing in relief Louise started jogging towards the stump only to stop dead in her tracks when it started moving.

The Pokémon looked like a Beetle but only if a Beetle could grow arms, legs, grow a meter tall and have horns that looked like they could break a tree in half that were currently twitching ominously.

Louise gulped and took a step back to review her options. Brennaraki was still hurt from the fight with that pill bug earlier, Aile would be lucky to annoy the Beetle, much less beat it, and time was running out so she couldn't get into a drag-out fight with him. Running away wasn't an option, even without the time limit, which in itself made waiting it out untenable. Louise was stuck, unable to fight, flee, or be patient. With only one option remaining, Louise nervously waked towards the Pokémon, wringing her hands.

"Um, excuse me," Louise called out to the large beetle, who continued to stare at her with a menacing stare. Seeing how he didn't immediately attack her for talking, Louise continued while taking a cautious step forward. "I need to get the badge, so if you could just—" a sharp click from the beetle interrupted Louise, giving her an answer.

"Okay, so you don't want to move," the beetle shook its head and continued to guard the stump. Now closer, Louise was able to get a better look at the stump, and noticed several bite marks marking it.

"You're guarding your food…" Louise whispered. It made sense now. Protecting a food source was instinctual for any creature, and a Pokémon would be no different.

"Maybe…" Louise looked over what she had to offer, rummaged through her pockets and pulled out the excess Pecha Berries, presenting them as an offering. Sniffing the berries, the Pokémon took hold of a berry and tasted it, carefully chewing the berry to extract the most flavor. Once it finished, it nodded and took the rest of the berries from her and moved back into the forest, pleased with the food given. With a sigh of relief, Louise carefully waked up to the stump before spotting what she came for: a single Bug Badge, encased in an embedded glass dome.

"Okay," Louise took a deep breath before opening the case and taking hold of the badge into her hands. "Time to earn this."

* * *

As the two hour mark started to get close, Viola patiently waited at the entrance to Santalune Forest. Updates courtesy of Ninjask let her know that Louise had found the Bug Badge. Now, the only question was whether or not Louise would get back in time, a worry that dissipated as soon as Louise emerged triumphant from the forest.

"So, you've finally arrived, and with ten minutes to spare. Was starting to get worried," Viola called out with a smirk. "Do you have it?" At this, Louise proudly pulled out the Bug Badge, holding it out in triumph.

"I think I've earned that battle now," Louise smiled.

"That you have. Let's get your Pokémon checked up at the Pokémon Center first, though."

"Thank you."

* * *

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest episode of Outsiders. Now, some of you may have wondered just what I meant by a Practical. While that may not have been the best word to use, in short before every Gym battle, each prospective trainer must undergo a trial to earn the right to battle for the badge. Its an addition we created to expand the role of the Gym leaders beyond a simple boss fight. Each trail is meant to impart a lesson that is important for Louise's, and Saito's, growth as characters. Every Gym Leader will have a different pre-battle trial, some more elaborate than others, but all are meant to expand their characters.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **PokemonFan93** : That is the main thing that causes Saito to not believe her, besides the whole Meeting Arceus thing. He can understand magic, he can kind of understand her being a noble. She's certainly haughty enough to show it. But coming from a world where Pokémon are nonexistent is a bridge to far for him. Pokémon being around is just too culturally ingrained. Louise used her full name because its a holdover from her days back in Tristain. Even now, she places great importance and pride in her family, and that is something that for the time being she will continue to do.

 **Sakura Linsel** : Ash 17 to 18 in this story, but he is a background character. He is "Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Story", as this is not his story. Its Louise and Saito's. Arceus called him boy because to him, everyone are children. His children, and while they may squabble among themselves and some do terrible things, he leaves them alone to their own devices. He isn't a micromanager, unless either the whole world is at stake, then he usually does subtle methods to contain it, or if Void magic is involved. Then he takes a more direct approach.

Now, next chapter is the Gym battle itself. Louise vs Viola, Round II. Who will win? Find out next time on Outsiders!


	15. Season 1, Episode 4, Chapter 5

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)**

 **Season 1, Episode 4, Chapter 5**

* * *

Before Louise could battle Viola, a quick stop at the Santalune Pokémon Center was deemed necessary by everyone, given what happened to Brennaraki. Luckily, Louise had tended to it in time, so the damage wasn't too severe, but even if she hadn't been challenging Viola she still would have taken her in. As she waited patiently in the lobby, Louise heard the doors open. Turning her head, she smiled faintly as Saito walked in and took a seat next to her.

"Good job on getting the badge," Saito congratulated her. "Sorry about what happened to Brennaraki. Pretty smart to send Aile out to go find those Pecha Berries."

"I knew it," Louise smugly stated, much to Saito's confusion. Chuckling, Louise waved her hand around in a circle. "Aile spotted the Ninjask carrying the camera early on. We figured you guys were watching the entire time."

"Oh, so is that why—"

"Yes, that is why I didn't use their new moves."

"Huh… Smart. What gave you that idea?"

"Mother taught me to never show your hand in battle. Never really took it seriously until now, but…you know. It made sense to do that." Louise admitted, causing Saito to chuckle. A calm silence fell among them, only to be broken by the sound of a Wigglytuff entering the lobby, carrying a tray with Brennaraki and Aile's Luxury Balls on them.

"Ms. Vallière," the nurse called out over the intercom, "your Pokémon have been fully healed."

"Thank you, Nurse Joy," Louise smiled as she took her Pokémon back.

"It is our pleasure. We hope to serve you again," Nurse Joy happily replied with a bow. At one-point Louise might have been offended at that, in a 'what are you suggesting' sort of way, but recognizing it as professional courtesy, Louise smiled back. Turning around, Louise began to walk out the door, Saito following her out. Once they entered the Gym, the two nodded at each other before walking through separate doors. Saito to the spectator stands, Louise to the arena floor.

Louise was mildly surprised at how pristine it looked. If you didn't know any better, you would have never guessed that just two days before it torn up through battle. Regardless, the arena was not Louise's main concern, at least for moment. That honor lay with Viola, currently standing across the field, her hand placed on her hip.

"Louise Vallière," Viola's voice rang out, a noticeable attempt at sounding formal, "I'm happy to see you back in the Gym. It always nice to see a returning challenger."

"Thank you. I wasn't going to let one loss keep me down."

"I'd be disappointed if you did," Viola smirked before hardening her expression. "Once again, don't think I'm going to go easy on you, now."

"Of course," Louise smirked back as she readied herself. At this point the referee, seeing how both challengers were ready, walked up to his podium and cleared his throat.

"This is a rematch between the challenger, Louise Vallière, against Gym Leader Viola Pansy. It will be a Singles match, two on two. The challenger reserves the right to exchange Pokémon at any time, while the Gym Leader cannot. Eliminations are by knockout," the referee announced. The rules were the exact same as last time, Louise noted, yet she listened intently nonetheless. "Are both trainers ready?"

"I am," Viola replied, her gaze never leaving Louise.

"Yes, sir," Louise stared with as much, if not more intensity.

"Begin!" the referee shouted, raising his arm in an upward chop.

"Go, Surskit!" Viola called out, reacting almost immediately. As before, the Viola's Surskit burst out onto the battlefield, its cherry demeanor masking its sinister nature as a spawn from Hell. Saito had laughed when she told him that, to the point where he was crying, but she knew better. Her Pokémon knew better. Louise reached for a Luxury Ball, determined to not make the same mistakes as last time.

"Let's go, Aile! Show this thing who's boss!" Louise yelled as she threw the ball out, releasing the tiny bird onto the field. As Aile locked eyes with the Surskit, her body tensed in preparation. "Start things off with Tailwind!" At Louise's order, Aile sprung into action, flapping her wings and creating a steady gust of wind to ride on.

"Ice Beam!" Viola ordered, to which Surskit immediately unleased the attack. Aile swiftly dived underneath, causing the Ice Beam to strike the ceiling.

"Not again," Louise hissed under her breath. "Aile, keep low to the ground! We can't let her hit the ceiling like last time! Swoop down while using Agility!" Aile, heeding Louise's orders, swooped downwards, dodging yet another Ice Beam. Increasing her velocity as she descended, Aile pulled up right before crashing, speeding a few inches above the ground. Surskit continued to fire beams of ice towards the speeding bird, who nimbly dodged each.

"Quick Attack!" Louise, wanting to press the advantage, ordered. Aile promptly disappeared in a blur as she sped towards the water spider. Surskit leapt out of the way, causing Aile to miss. As the tiny bird swooped around for another pass, Viola squinted her eyes.

"Surskit, use Bubblebeam!" Changing her tactics, Viola shouted out a new order. A beam of bubbles promptly shot out towards the Fletchling, forcing her upwards. With the Bubblebeam trailing her, Aile could only continue to fly up towards the ceiling while avoiding the bubbles. Suddenly, the stream of bubbles ceased, allowing Aile to hover in place as she caught her breath. Aile's gaze never left the Surskit until a drop of water fell on her head, causing her to shift her attention upwards, only to see an absolutely soaked ceiling.

"Oh, no…," Louise whispered to herself, already seeing Viola's next move. As she wrapped her brain around, trying to find a way to stop what was coming, a beam of ice shot out towards a distracted Aile.

"Quick Attack, now!" Louise shouted, copying Tanuki's move from earlier. Realizing where Louise was going, Aile sped out of the way, barely missing the beam of ice, which created yet another mount of ice on the ceiling. With the ceiling already soaked, the ice quickly spread until it covered its entirety.

' _No, no, no!_ ' Louise clutched her head in worry. ' _If she makes it hail again, Aile's done for! She can't dodge-!'_ Louise's eyes widened in realization. If Aile, for all her speed, couldn't dodge that many shards of ice, then what did that say about the much slower Surskit?

"Surskit, use Sig—" Viola began to order, only to be interrupted by Louise.

"Quick Attack on the ceiling!"

"What!?" Viola shrieked in surprise at Louise's order. Unable to react, she and Surskit could only watch as Aile sped towards the ceiling, striking it dead center. An ominous crack appeared on the ice, which quickly spread. Unlike last time, Louise was the one who was smirking, while Viola looked on in worry.

"Peck," Louise simple command, combined with her confident smirk, was all that Aile needed as she jammed her sharp beak into the ice crack, shattering it like glass. The force of the impact made the immediate area around Aile shatter into smaller particles, unable to really hurt her. The same could not be said for the rest of the ice sheet, as large chunks began to rain down onto the arena, buffeting the Surskit as it desperately tried to move itself out of the way. As the hail subsided, Louise observed the still standing Surskit, albeit much wobblier than before. Pushing down the urge to prematurely jump in joy, Louise spied Aile, still hovering high in the air.

"Aile, return," Louise announced. Aile may be in good condition now, but that might be needed for whatever Viola's next Pokémon was. "Come on out, Brennaraki!" As Brennaraki emerged onto the field, she gazed at the Surskit intensely, remembering how their last battle went. Surskit defiantly stared back and unleashed a barrage of bubbles towards the rejuvenated fox. Brennaraki leapt to the side, avoiding the bubbles and let loose a fireball towards her opponent. To its credit, Surskit successfully dodged the attack, albeit much slower than before.

"Brennaraki, keep pressing! Box it in with Fire Spin!" Louise yelled, wanting to put this thing it its place once and for all. A fiery vortex soon erupted from Brennaraki's mouth as it hurtled towards the tired insect, who merely assaulted the vortex with its own bubble barrage. The two attacks canceled each other out, creating a white cloud of steam and obscuring Louise and Brennaraki's vision.

' _Where is it?_ ' Louise thought as she scanned the arena for a sign of the Surskit. "Brennaraki, keep your eye's open. Don't let it catch you off guard." Brennaraki yipped at Louise's advice and began to prance around the battlefield, hoping to spot the Surskit still hidden within. As moments passed, the steam refused to dissipate, and Louise grunted in irritation. "Gaagh, use Psywave to get rid of that steam."

Equally irritated, Brennaraki let loose waves of psychic energy around the cloud of steam. The air disturbed, the cloud finally began to disappear, and Louise smiled at finally being able to see her opponent once more. That smile quickly disappeared as the Surskit revealed itself, holding the largest bubble she had ever seen over its head.

"Move!" Louise barely had time to shout before the bubble exploded into an immeasurable barrage of bubbles, all of which hurtled towards a surprised Brennaraki. The fire fox scarcely had time to react before the beam neared, forcing her to leap away, less she be struck by the powerful attack. As she landed, she broke into a sprint, the beam following right on her heels. Occasionally, Brennaraki would let out an Ember or Psywave, but the attacks either went wide or barely grazed the Surskit. Each attack, however, slowed the Fennekin down slightly more and more, until finally the distance between Brennaraki and the Bubblebeam closed. She was only clipped in the heel, but that was all it took to knock Brennaraki over, sending her skidding across the ground.

"Brennaraki!" Louise yelled out in concern. Her Pokémon quickly tried to get to her feet, only to be blasted back by yet another Bubblebeam. A third was quickly launched towards the prone Pokémon, but before it impacted, Brennaraki let loose a Psywave, intercepting the attack and stopping it cold. Before the Surskit could launch another, Brennaraki let loose another Psywave, striking the Surskit dead center and sending it back.

"Yes!" Louise cheered, only to falter as she took in the sight of her exhausted starter. "Return," Louise sighed, returning Brennaraki to her Luxury Ball for a much-needed rest. It wouldn't do much, but every bit would count.

"Let's finish this, Aile," Aile let out a cry as she was released over the battlefield, overlooking an exhausted but defiant Surskit. Louise could tell it didn't have much fight left in it, but it was going to give everything it had. She respected that, but she had a badge to win.

"Aile, find an angle and use Quick Attack!" Still boosted by her previous use of Agility, Aile took off high into the air and circled around the Surskit. Unwilling to let Aile make her move, Surskit attempted to shoot her down with a combination of Signal Beams and Bubblebeams, but her exhaustion, coupled with Aile's considerable speed, made her miss every time. This did, however, point out an inherent weakness to Aile: Surskit was slow to turn. An opening found, Aile disappeared in a burst of speed as she zoomed towards the Surskit's back. Seeing the attack coming, Surskit tried to turn, but was unable to do so before Aile struck her from behind, the force of the attack sent her flying into the air. Dazed but still conscious, the Surskit spotted Aile speeding towards her falling body, intending to finish her off. Defiant, the Surskit let loose one last Ice Beam straight towards the speeding bird. Rather than roll away, Aile increased her velocity, using her beak as a plow as the beam struck. With each second eating away at her, Aile plowed through the beam until she finally struck the Surskit in midair, sending both crashing into the ground. Aile, although heavily wounded, was able to pick herself off the ground and hover low in the air. The same could not be said for the Surskit, for one look at its face sent a clear message.

"Surskit is unable to battle!" The referee announced, hoisting a flag in the air. Louise had to forcibly push down the urge to jump in joy, but a small whoop did manage to escape her lips. Quickly recomposing herself, Louise readied for whatever Pokémon Viola would unleash next.

"Come on back, Surskit. You deserve a rest," Viola sighed as she returned her Pokémon. "I must say, I'm impressed. Turning my own strategy against me… I didn't expect that from a rookie."

"It's something my mother once taught me," Louise admitted, something she had been doing a lot of lately. "She knew a lot about strategy and taught some to me." Of course, what her mother's intentions of that lesson was for how to manipulate other nobles during negotiations, but Viola didn't need to know that.

"She sounds like a smart woman."

"She is," Louise smiled. "You ready?"

"Of course. Come on out, Vivillon!" Viola threw out a Pokéballs and released a large grey moth. Its four equally large wings held a bright pink pattern to them, with grey edges lining the top pair of wings. Not recognizing the Pokémon, Louise quickly took out her Pokédex and noted with relief Viola was allowing her the opportunity to scan it.

" _Vivillon, the Scale Pokémon. Vivillon is the evolved form of Spewpa, and the final evolution of Scatterbug. The pattern on any given Vivillon's wings depends on where the Pokémon was born. A Vivillon born on an archipelago will exhibit a different wing pattern even if the final evolution occurred on the mainland,_ " the Pokédex announced. Louise hummed to herself as she took in the Pokémon's information.

"Bug/Flying type…" Louise whispered to herself as she thought over her options. She could always switch back to Brennaraki, who would now be in a much better situation than against the Surskit. But, she was still resting from the Surskit's attacks, so bringing her out now might not be for the best. Even still, Aile took a nasty hit before finally putting that insect down. Unsure of what to do, Louise turned towards someone she knew would.

"Aile, are you still good to go?" She asked, to which Aile chirped back confidently. Louise smiled and, with utmost vigor, stretched her arm out towards the Vivillon. "Alright, then! Start things off with Tailwind, then take to the air!"

Aile was already flapping her wings when Louise gave her command, creating a familiar and comforting gust of wind behind her. As she took off into the air, the Vivillon flapped its wings hard, creating a strong gust of wind that buffeted Aile and zeroed out the tailwind.

"What!" Louise shouted, causing Viola to smirk.

"Don't think I'm going to let you keep using that over and over, again! Vivillon, keep using Gust!" At Viola's command, the Vivillon began to rapidly flap its wings, creating a seemingly endless windstorm that rocked Aile around.

"Aile, use Quick Attack to get out of there!" Aile quickly carried out Louise's orders and rocketed away from the heavy winds and towards the edge of the arena. The Vivillon quickly took off after her, sending more and more gusts of wind at the speeding bird. Seeing how Aile was rolling away from the attacks, Vivillon stopped and closed its eyes, a steady purple sheen soon covering its body. Louise would have thought it to be beautiful, were it not for the purple sheen to explode into a concentrated beam of psychic energy, blasting Aile straight into the ground.

"Aile!" Louise shouted as Aile attempted to pick herself back up, only to be blown back by yet another psychic beam. As the Vivillon reared up for another blast, Aile suddenly rocketed forward, striking the Vivillon square in the head and causing the purple sheen to disappear from its body.

"Good job, Aile! Now, use Peck on its head!" Immediately latching onto the Vivillon's body, Aile began to rapidly peck the offending Pokémon with her sharp beak, each impact rattling the bug's brain.

"Vivillon, use Struggle Bug!" the Vivillon, now thoroughly mad at the small bird, sharply dived down and slammed Aile to the ground. Dazed, Aile was unable to prevent Vivillon as several green orbs appeared in its mouth before they launched down upon her. Bouncing into the air, Vivillon closed its eyes and attempted to concentrate, only to find her unable to do so. Aile let out a small, pleased chirp at this, her objective accomplished.

"Rattling my Pokémon's brain to prevent it from using Psybeam, huh?" Viola observed. "Good, but not good enough. Vivillon, use Stun Spore!" Vivillon began to slowly flap its wings, releasing a cloud of yellow spores towards the tired bird. Aile attempted to get out of the way, but was soon enveloped in the cloud, breathing in some of the spores. She began to cough, only for her body to freeze and spasm, causing her to crash into the ground.

"Aile!" Louise cried out, recognizing that her Pokémon was now paralyzed. Aile attempted to pick herself up, only to spasm once again before getting blasted by another gust of heavy wind. Aile skidded across the ground before coming to a halt at Louise's feet. Aile attempted to get up once again, only to be halted by Louise's hand.

"No, you're done," Louise comforted the exhausted bird, rubbing her hand on Aile's head. "Sir, I'm retiring Aile." Louise announced to the referee, who nodded and raised his flag, announcing Aile's departure. Sighing to herself, Louise returned Aile to her Luxury Ball releasing a slightly rejuvenated Brennaraki out onto the battlefield, eager to avenge her fallen comrade.

"Brennaraki, watch out for Vivillon's spores," Louise advised her starter, who nodded in understanding. "Now, Fire Spin!" As soon as the words left Louise's mouth, Brennaraki unleased a fiery vortex towards the floating Vivillon. Flying around it, Vivillon threw out another gust of wind at Brennaraki, who nimbly leapt to the side. Still in the air, Brennaraki let loose a wave of psychic energy towards the insect, striking it in the chest and sending it back slightly. Now glaring at the fox, Vivillon was forced to duck underneath a fireball Brennaraki attempted to hit her with.

"Vivillon, use Powder!" Viola ordered. With an expression that was almost like a smirk, Vivillon began to flap its wings, unleashing a cloud of red spores that drifted towards Brennaraki. Attempting to leap out of the way, a gust of wind sent her hurling back, allowing the spores to envelop her. She flinched, preparing for the worst, but when nothing happened both she and Louise breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness. Alright then, Brennaraki! Use Ember!" With a smirk, Brennaraki prepared a fireball in her mouth and launched it towards the grinning insect. Before the fireball even left her mouth, however, Brennaraki suddenly exploded. Yelping in pain, Brennaraki was hurled away by the blast, leaving a trail of cinders in her wake and a dumbfounded Louise.

"What… What just happened?" Louise asked aloud in obvious confusion.

"Powder is a move only Vivillons and certain offspring can learn. When Fire-type attacks ignite the spores, they explode," Viola explained, a confident smirk on her face. As Brennaraki got to her feet, she growled at the Vivillon in rage, Louise equally infuriated.

"If that's how you want to play it… Brennaraki, use Psywave!" Brennaraki, at Louise's order, unleashed a ferocious psychic wave towards the Vivillon. Dodging the blast, Vivillon attempted to attack with Gust, only to get blasted by an unexpected ember to the face. With light smoke rising from its body, Vivillon suddenly flew towards Brennaraki, rolling around another Psywave and tacking Aile to the ground before swooping upwards. Hovering in midair, it began to flap its wings and unleash a cloud of yellow spores toward Brennaraki. Seeing this, she quickly shot off a Fire Spin, causing the spores to ignite in a loud 'thump' and left her unaffected. Almost immediately, several green orbs shot down at her. While Brennaraki was able to get off a single Psywave, striking through one orb and the insect behind it, the others all found their mark and knocked her back. Seeing her chance, Vivillon quickly flew down to Brennaraki's face and flapped a cloud of purple spores over her. Coughing, Brennaraki fired off yet other Psywave, only to stumble slightly as she did.

"Oh no," Louise paled as she recognized the telling signs of poison. It was only a matter of time now, and Viola knew it. "Brennaraki, we have to finish this now! Use Ember on her!"

"Powder!"

"Switch to Psywave!" Louise hurriedly got out, preventing Brennaraki from repeating the past mistake. As the Psywave shot towards Vivillon, the red powder enveloped her, but without any fire to ignite it, soon harmlessly dissipated into the air.

' _Why isn't she using Powder more?_ ' Louise thought to herself as she watched Brennaraki and Vivillon continue to exchange attacks, with the fox growing slowly weaker. At the same time, many of Brennaraki's attacks hit their mark, dealing considerable damage. As Vivillon dodged yet another fireball, only to get buffeted by an explosion from the leftover Powder from earlier, Louise realized that the explosion Powder caused was just as dangerous to Vivillon as it was to Brennaraki, should it happen too close for comfort. Seeing how its effects could be avoided for now, Louise turned her attention towards a much more pressing issue.

' _How do I win before Brennaraki succumbs to the poison? How do I stop Viola from inflicting more damage to her?_ ' Louise wrapped her head around, trying to find a solution, when a thought entered her head. ' _Wait… Brennaraki knows Magic Coat…_ ' Saito had explained magic coat to her before, how it could reflect certain moves back onto the attacker, and if she could time it right…

Her plan set, Louise looked out towards Brennaraki and Vivillon. Both were equally exhausted at this point, but Louise could tell that Brennaraki was only holding on through sheer will at this point.

"Brennaraki, I have a plan! Use Psywave, followed up with Fire Spin!" Struggling to nod at Louise's command, Brennaraki did as instructed, shooting out a wave of psychic energy towards Vivillon. Barely dodging, Vivillon responded by hurtling a sharp gust of wind towards Brennaraki, who herself stumbled out of its path. The gust knocked some dirt into Brennaraki's eyes, forcing them shut as she attempted to get the dust out.

' _Come on…_ ' Louise internally begged. If this didn't work, she was done for.

"Vivillon, use Powder!" At Viola's order, Louise could barely contain her joy, which multiplied as the cloud of red spores descended towards Brennaraki.

"Yes! Brennaraki, use Magic Coat!"

"She knows what!?" Viola shouted, her eyes widening in panic. Unable to do anything, Viola could only watch as a pink coat covered Brennaraki right before the cloud hit. The spores, upon impacting the coat, reversed direction and homed in on Vivillon's frantic form, covering her entirely. As the pink coat subsided, Brennaraki opened her blazing eyes and stared at the Vivillon, still covered in the red spores. With one final act, Brennaraki let loose a Fire Spin towards the Vivillon before collapsing to her knees. Too tired to dodge, Vivillon could only brace itself as the vortex connected, simultaneously harming it with its flames and igniting the spores on its body. The ensuing explosion was enormous, sending clouds of dust all around and obscuring everyone's vision.

"Brennaraki!"

"Vivillon!" The two trainers shouted out in concern, unable to see the status of their Pokémon. As the cloud slowly subsided, the two gasped as they saw the two Pokémon collapsed on the ground, unmoving. Louise started to run out onto the field, only to stop as Brennaraki slowly began to stir. Under a great deal of pain, Brennaraki slowly began to rise, forcing herself to ignore the poison coursing through her. Finally, she triumphantly stood upright and, with a defiant growl, announced her intention to keep going. Vivillon, on the other hand, remained unmoving.

"Vivillon is unable to battle! Louise Valliere is the winner!" Louise could hardly hear the referee's voice as she stared at the scene. As Saito began to cheer, Louise broke into a triumphant, beaming smile and rushed out onto the arena towards Brennaraki, who turned to give an accomplished grin before collapsing as well. Louise was on her in an instant and began applying a Full Restore to her starter. As her Pokémon recovered, Louise hugged Brennaraki tightly. They had won.

"Good job, Brennaraki," Louise congratulated her Pokémon.

"I should say the same to you, Miss Valliere," Viola stated as she walked up to Louise, having already returned Vivillon to her Pokéball. "It is isn't very often that someone manages to beat me on their second try, much less after being a trainer for such a short amount of time." Viola was proudly smiling at Louise, who smiled back just as proud.

"I believe this belongs to you," Viola announced as she pulled out a red metallic case, the symbol of Kalos emblazoned on its lid. "Louise Valliere, it is my honor to present to you the Bug Badge. With this symbol of your victory, you are now capable of moving on to the next level of your Pokémon League challenge," Louise carefully took the case from Viola's hands, opening it to see the Bug Badge embedded in velvet inside. Before Louise could thank her, Viola pulled out a single disk.

"In addition, I hereby award you this TM83. It can teach the move Infestation to any Pokémon capable of learning it." As Louise took the TM from Viola's hands, a small voice in the back of her mind grumbled at the knowledge that she did not actually buy every TM from the PokéMart Supercenter, but it was quickly silenced.

"I… Thank you, Viola," Louise smiled and bowed towards the Gym Leader, who smiled back.

"You are very welcome, Louise. Now come on, let's get your Pokémon checked out."

"So, how does it feel to be a Badge holder," Saito asked in the confines of Louise's room. After the battle, the three had immediately headed to the Pokémon Center to heal their Pokémon.

"Amazing, honestly," Louise proudly admitted, holding her badge aloft as she inspected it. "With this, I'm one step closer to accomplishing my goal, and it proves that I have what it takes."

"Yeah, yeah it does," Saito fondly remembered when he finally won his Basic Badge. Louise had to be feeling the exact same way. He was almost envious. "So, where to now?"

"Easy, actually," Louise put the badge away and stood up, walking to the balcony. "I'm going back to Lumiose. Not only do I need to visit Professor Sycamore, I also know that there is a Gym there. I heard they specialize in Electric-Types?"

"That is correct," Saito replied. "I'm heading up there myself next to challenge the Gym Leader. It's where I was going originally, before I met up with you."

"I see," Louise replied before pausing to think. "… Hey, Saito?"

"Yeah?"

"…If you want… I'd be willing to allow you to travel up to Lumiose with me."

"Really?" Saito clasped his hands behind his head. "You'd 'allow' me to?"

"Yes," Louise huffed, slightly embarrassed. "It is a privilege to travel with a noble such as myself. You should be honored."

"I supposed 'getting poisoned because of you' is also an honor?" Saito remarked with a playful smirk, to which Louise glared. Laughing at her expression, Saito held up his hands in a placating manner. "Relax, I'm just joking. To answer your question, I don't see why not. I'd be happy to."

"Thank you," Louise replied with a smile. Thinking it over, she held out her hand, offering it to Saito, who after a moment grasped it with his own.

* * *

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Louise has just had her rematch against Viola and, by the skin of her teeth, managed to clinch a victory. It is the first step in a long road that ends at the Pokémon League. I hope the battle was very satisfactory for you all. It was a blast to write. Now for the Q&A:

 **PokemonFan93** : Everyone will improve as the story goes forward. Its one of the best things about doing a Pokémon Journey as a story template. It allows us to do a easily shown path of progression for all characters involved as they grow, both human and Pokémon. I'm glad you like the Practical Challenge. We enjoy them too, and you will see each Gym Leader have their own Challenges before any sort of battle, some more elaborate than others. Venipede is a perfect example of what we are doing in regards to where Pokémon can be located. If a Pokémon species makes sense to be in a certain area, they will be there, just rarer than others. Besides, Louise just fought through a whole lot of Weedles. No need for her to face another one. As for its second move, just standard Poison attack. It doesn't need a name.

That concludes the Q&A. I hope everyone enjoys the battle. Stay tuned for the next Chapter and Episode of Outsiders everyone!


	16. Season 1, Episode 5, Chapter 1

**Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)**

 **Season 1, Episode 5, Chapter 1**

* * *

The morning after her victory, Louise and Saito began the trip back up Route 4 towards Lumiose. Luckily, thanks to Saito knowing what he was doing, they were making much more progress than Louise did on the way down. That wasn't to say there weren't any problems.

"Founder, I hate these things," Louise grumbled as she attempted to slap a mosquito away, sweat drenching her brow. It was much hotter than it was when she first came through, and now the mosquitoes, flies, and various other insects made their presence much more pronounced than before.

"Have to agree with you, there," Saito agreed, pulling out a small aerosol and spraying it on his body. Seeing Louise's confused look, Saito held out the can towards her. "Repel. Keeps wild animals, insects, and Pokémon away. Want some?"

"Thank you," Louise quickly took the can and began spraying it on her. As she hastily sprayed herself, Louise accidentally got some of the spray going into her mouth, causing her to drop the can and sputter. "Gagh! Founder, that's disgusting!" Louise started glaring at Saito when he started chuckling.

"Yeah, I've done that a few times," Saito shook his head in sympathy. Kneeling to pick up the discarded can, he again offered it to his companion, only for her to politely wave it away. With an understanding nod, Saito placed the spray can back into his bag and began to walk forward, with Louise quickly following him.

"So…," Louise began, "what can you tell me about the Lumiose Gym?"

"Not much, I'm afraid," Saito shrugged. "At least in terms of what Pokémon he'll use. I do know that the Gym Leader is a guy named Clemont Lem. Apparently, he's some kind of inventor."

"Huh, makes sense," Louse imagined an old, bearded man in a workshop, tinkering away at various tools in a shed somewhere and nodded. Before she could speak up again, however, she stopped as a faint noise came over them. Saito, having heard the noise, stopped as well.

"Did you hear that?" Saito began, confused and his hand hovering slightly near his Pokéballs.

"Yeah, I heard it too," Louise admitted, echoing Saito's movements. The noise came over them once again, this time louder. She could almost make out some shouting. "I think…there are people over there."

"I think you're right," Saito narrowed his eyes and, with a shrug turned to leave, only to notice Louise still standing still, rooted in place. "Louise, you coming?"

"… I think we should check it out," Louise declared, still staring out towards where the noise was coming from. "Someone might be in trouble."

"Louise, I hate to burst your bubble," Louise was slightly confused at the idiom used but said nothing, "but I'm pretty those aren't sounds of distress."

"Well, maybe I'm just curious," Louise huffed and began walking forward, leaving Saito behind. "I'm going to go check it out. You do whatever you want." As Saito remained standing in place, he sighed and rubbed his brow in exasperation before following. Catching up to her quickly, the two released Brennaraki and Ronin from their respective balls. It wasn't long until the sounds became clearer, and as Saito had said, they weren't sounds of distress.

"Find it yet?"

"No!"

"Not over here!"

"Keep looking!" A small group of people shouted over each other as they searched every nook and cranny of a small area.

"Saito?" Louise stared in bewilderment at the scene. "Any idea what's going on here?"

"I think…those are collectors…" Saito, echoing his partner, stared out at the scene. It appeared that none of the collectors had noticed them yet, and even if they did, they were so engrossed in their search of…whatever it is they were searching for that they might not have even cared. Louise's expression darkened at this, her mind going back to the last collector she had met.

"Collectors… Great," Louise grumbled. "Let's get out of here."

"Agreed," Saito nodded and turned to leave, only to stop as someone noticed them and walked over.

"Hey, you two," the man demanded. As she stomped over, Louise was able to get a much better look at him. He was a boy around her age, unkempt in appearance. His shirt was tucked in raggedly, his hair a greasy mop as if it hadn't been cared for in days. The ends of his jeans were frayed, his shoes covered in dirt and mud. He emitted the foulest odor Louise had ever experienced, to the point where she and Saito almost gagged. But what was most striking to Louise were his eyes. His eyes were the most focused she had ever seen, and in contrast to the rest of his appearance, his Pokéballs were all shiny and pristine.

"…Can we help you?" Saito tentatively asked the collector.

"What do you want?" Louise barked, much less curt than her partner.

"Either of you seen a Ralts?" The collector demanded. Louise and Saito looked at each other, confused, before Louise finally spoke up.

"A Ralts?"

"A Ralts. Foot tall, white body, green head with pink horns."

"We know what a Ralts is," Saito explained as Louise internally shuddered at a foul memory. "And no, we haven't seen one." The collector hmphed and turned to leave.

"Why do you care?" Louise demanded, halting the collector in his tracks. Turning around, he stared Louise in the face, causing her to flinch back from the smell.

"For your information," the collector started to rant, "Ralts are among the rarest of all Pokémon species. Most people never see one in the wild, much less catch one. A few days ago, a Ralts was spotted in this area, and it belongs to _me_."

"So, you are a collector," Louise scowled.

"And proud of it," if the collector noticed, he didn't or it. Or maybe he did and just didn't care, Louise couldn't tell. "That Ralts would be a great addition to my collection. I've been out here for days—"

"Oh, we can tell that…" Saito whispered to Louise, making her giggle slightly.

"—all just to find one. I've searched every corner of these woods, and now that one has finally been seen, I'm not going to let it slip from my grasp. So, if either of you see it, stay away from it. Because that Ralts is mine."

"What about those people?" Louise pointed towards the rest of the Pokémon trainers, to which the collector huffed in annoyance.

"Them? Please. This is the fifth group that's come and gone in the past day alone. Everyone else, they all just gave up and left. Not me," the collector declared with a glint in his eye.

"Louise let's just—" Saito began, only to be interrupted by Louise.

"Why do you want this Ralts? Really, why do you want it?" Louise stomped up to the collector, barreling straight past Saito and quickly cutting him off. "Status? Fame? Or is it as shallow as simply placing it on your belt?" Louise's voice dripped with venom, so much so that the group of people around them paused what they were doing and glanced in their direction, some with thoughtful expressions on their faces. The collector, meanwhile, grew red with rage.

"Now you listen here," the collector pointed at Louise, who promptly swatted it away from her. "Don't lecture me on what Pokémon I can or cannot catch, nor my reasons for doing so. I want the Ralts, so I'm going to catch it. End of story," before the situation could escalate further, Saito placed himself between the two, holding them apart.

"Louise, come on. Let's go," Saito pushed Louise back, away from the stewing collector. In a huff, Louise sharply turned around and began to walk away from the clearing.

"By the way, you interested in trading that female, shiny Fennekin?" the collector called out to Louise, stopping her in her tracks. Brennaraki growled and huddled close to Louise as she turned to look at the collector, her eyes blazing.

"There is _nothing_ you nor anyone else could offer me that would make me give Brennaraki up, so don't even try." At that, Louise stomped away fuming, a confused Saito quickly following her and leaving the collector behind.

* * *

"Can you believe that guy!" Louise continued to rant. The two of them had decided that, after that encounter, they were in no mood to continue traveling. Apparently, though, Louise was in the mood to rant about the collector and what he was doing and had been doing so for the past half hour.

"Honestly! He thinks he can just _declare_ a Pokémon is his just because he wants it?! How shallow is he?! I doubt that Ralts would even _want_ to be with a guy like that, all greasy and unkempt! I—" Louise cut herself off with a dry cough, her ranting finally catching up to her.

"Here, drink," Saito offered a bottle of water towards the rosette, who silently took it. As she continued to drink in silence, Saito clasped his hands together. "So… Want to talk about it?"

"… About what?" Louise grumbled as she continued to drink.

"Oh, I don't know. How you completely went off on a guy not half an hour ago for being a collector?" At Saito's declaration, Louise clenched her fist.

"What's there to talk about?" Louise replied through clenched teeth.

"Okay, look. I get it. You do not like collectors. That does not mean you get to antagonize a guy like that. Outside of a noticeable lack of any knowledge of basic hygiene, he did nothing to us."

"That's not the point," Louise tersely replied. "He's treating Pokémon like they're just objects. Like that Ralts is just a thing that meant to be shown off, with no care towards it outside of his own needs."

"…this isn't about the Ralts, is it?" Saito observing, stunning Louise into silence. Taking her silence as a 'yes', Saito nodded. "Want to talk about it?" Louise sighed at his question and looked down.

"Do you remember how back home, I was a failure of a mage? How my family had given up on me?"

"…Yeah, yeah, I do," Saito patiently waited for Louise to continue.

"Well…it wasn't just that they had given up on me. When they stopped my magic lessons, they…they replaced them with marital lessons."

"Marital lessons?" Saito eyes widened in realization. "You mean…?"

"Unlike here, or among the commoners back home, nobles don't marry for love," Louise quietly explained, answering Saito's unspoken question. "Most, if not all marriages among the nobility marry in pre-arranged marriages. People who have never even met before are suddenly forced to marry, even if they despise each other."

"That's what your family planned for you?" Saito slowly realized, to which Louise nodded.

"To their credit, they tried to set me up with someone I could potentially live a happy life with. Cushy, comfortable. But with my apparent lack of magical ability, I'd be relegated to the background. My life would become a gilded cage."

"But you didn't want that."

"No, I didn't. I _wanted_ to prove myself so badly. I put myself through all that torment just to prove to everyone, my teachers, my classmates, my family, myse—" Louise stopped herself. "… I had to prove that I just as much of a noble as everyone else was. You already know how I tried…"

"…That's why you berated that collector so much," Saito realized. "It wasn't so much him, but rather the concept of what he was doing hit too close to home."

"…Yeah," Louise said as she pulled out Brennaraki's Luxury Ball. "Might be one of the reasons why Brennaraki and I bonded so quickly. I understood exactly where she was coming from, as she did to me. Her desire to battle, yet others only wanting her for her rarity. My desire to be recognized as a mage, yet unable to do so and fated to be wedded off.

"That's why I despise the concept of Pokémon collecting. Both collector's I've met so far have shown no concern for their target, only wanting them for their own ends and ignoring their desires. Had I failed my summoning, that would have been my fate." As Louise grew silent, relieved to get that off her chest, Saito nodded in understanding.

"It also didn't hurt that the guy was absolutely repulsive," Louise quipped, causing Saito to chuckle.

"Yeah, he kind of was, wasn't he," Saito replied with a smile, which Louise echoed. Standing up, Saito brushed himself. "Well, enough sappiness for now. How about we get some training in? Still got half a day left, and we've got nothing better to do." With a smile, Louise stood up as well, eager for a challenge.

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

* * *

When night fell upon Route 4, and the light of the full moon shone brightly above, the forest went quiet. Outside of the chittering of nocturnal Spinaraks, Hoothoots, and other Pokémon of the night, it was tranquil.

That tranquility was shattered as a small Pokémon frantically burst from the forest, running away from her pursuer.

 _'I have to get out of here,'_ the Pokémon internally panicked as she sought a way out of her predicament. This human had been apparently tracking her for days, and a quick look at his mind told her she wanted nothing to do with him. So far, he had only proven her to be correct.

"Munchlax, use Odor Sleuth and find that Ralts!" the voice shouted out, causing the Ralts in question to pale and quicken her pace. The last thing she wanted was to be caught by that man, and this desire motivated her past the point of exhaustion. And after several days of running away and hiding, both from the human and others like him, she was exhausted.

As she burst through the bushes into a small clearing, a foul odor swarmed her senses, halting her in her tracks. Clutching her nose, she looked out to find two small structures, one blue and one pink, lying in the clearing, a small burnt-out fire in between them. A quick observation revealed the stench was a concentrated in a sort of ring around the camp, likely to keep out any wild Pokémon. As the Ralts contemplated turning back, she heard a sound come in from behind her. A quick psychic look confirmed the source to be the human and his Munchlax, hot on her heels. With no other options, she forced herself through the odor ring. The stench was so foul, it seemed to be physically pushing her back, but the Ralts forced herself to fight through it. After what seemed like an eternity, the Ralts finally made it through the ring, freeing herself of the odor's effects.

After taking a moment to collect herself, the Ralts quickly ran behind pink structure to hide. Not a moment too soon, as the human and the Munchlax then ran out into the clearing, trying to find her.

"Where is she?" the human whispered, not wanting to wake up the people sleeping inside, if only to assure his quarry. The Munchlax attempted to smell her out, only to smell the foul odor instead. As the small bear clutched his noses, the Ralts' eyes widened in realization. The odor, in addition to keeping out the Munchlax, and therefore the human, it was also masking her scent.

"Aagh, stupid Repel," the human hissed.

 _'So that's what it's called…'_ the Ralts mused as she peeked out from behind the tent.

"Forget it, it's not here. That Repel must have forced it away. Idiots…," the human kicked the ground and clenched his fist. "Come on, Munchlax. Let's keep searching." The Munchlax barked in affirmation, and the two soon departed, leaving the Ralts alone.

' _Thank goodness,_ ' the Ralts sighed in relief as she began to look around. With the human and his Munchlax tracker gone, she could always simply go the other way. At the same time, however, she did not want to have to go through that 'Repel' ring again.

 _'…I guess this place is fine,_ ' the Ralts sighed to herself. _'At least these humans seem to be nicer than that other human. Now, where do I sleep?'_ the Ralts began to look around the campsite, trying to find a safe place to sleep, only to see a small opening in the pink structure. Deep down, the Ralts knew she should not go in, knowing that there might be a human inside, but a deep curiosity compelled her to venture forth. A quick peek confirmed that there was a human inside, a pink haired female by the look of her fur. Luckily, she, and the purple Fennekin she was cuddling with inside of a shiny bag, were sound asleep.

 _'Alright, here goes nothing…_ ' the Ralts thought to herself as she lightly stepped into the structure. Passing through, she quickly noted how insulated the structure was from the outside world. The cold night air didn't seem to be here, and with the emitted body heat of the human and Fennekin, it was comfortably warm. How the structure did it, she did not know, but regardless it was a nice reprieve. A quick poke at the bag revealed it to be quite squishy, almost as if it was hollow, not to mention smooth.

 _'Interesting…'_ the Ralts continued to poke the strange bag, only to stop as the human stir. The Ralts held her breath, lest she risk waking the human and Pokémon up from their slumber, and after several tense seconds the human went still. Letting out a sigh of relief, the Ralts turned to remove herself from the structure, only for a sweet smell to catch her attention. Turning towards its source, she found it to be coming out of a large pink bag. Slowly creeping her way towards it, consciously making sure to make as little noise as possible, the Ralts found the smell to be coming out of a slightly open container with strange metal teeth, a weird tag holding them together. Taking hold of it, she slowly moved it to the side, cringing at the sound it was making, until finally it was completely open. Reaching in she carefully started feeling around for whatever might be the source of the smell. The first thing she pulled out was a squishy container that she normally found around sludge ponds, although this one was filled with much clearer water then she normally found them with. Setting it off to the side, she then pulled out a metal cylinder with a picture of a Grepa berry on it. Strangely, despite the image, it was filled with some kind of liquid, judging by the sound it made when she shook it. Shrugging off her confusion, Ralts sat it besides the clear container and reached back in and pulled a boxy red thing, and after a moment of examination Ralts gently sat it on the ground next to the two objects found earlier. Turning her attention back to the opening, she could still smell something from the hole. Whatever was causing it, she could only reach it after she lowered her upper body into the hole.

 _'Oran Berries! My favorite!'_ the Ralts thought as she hungrily grabbed the small bundle of Orans that were wrapped in clear coating. After a moment of flailing that knocked the bag onto its side, she managed to remove herself from it and held the berries in front of her victoriously with a quiet cry. Her victory was short lived as she was quickly stumped as to how to remove the berries from the package. Grabbing it on one side with her hands and the other side with her psychic mind, she gave a quick, harsh pull on both ends, but the package suddenly gave way with a ripping sound and ended up throwing the berries all around the area and Ralts onto her back as she lost her footing.

Groaning in muted surprise, Ralts remained on her back for a moment before pushing herself to her feet. She started looking for where the berries went only to freeze as she saw two pairs of eyes poking out of the bag's opening, staring right at her.

 _'Uh oh.'_

* * *

 _"Oh, Louise! I'm so sorry for how I treated you!" Kirche groveled before Louise, the rest of the Academy echoing her. "You are obviously a mage, the greatest of our time! I see that now!"_

 _"Yes, yes I am," Louise beamed, her arms crossed and her Pokémon all standing around her. To her right stood Brennaraki, now a majestic Delphox, taller than Louise herself. On her shoulder sat Aile, preening herself. Her other four Pokémon all stood around her as well, each cloaked in shadow._

 _"Will you ever forgive us?!" Guiche begged, going down to his knees and clasping his hands. At seeing one of her tormentors beg, Louise's smile widened, her eyes filled with mirth._

 _"As a noble," Louise began._

 _"The most noble of us all!" a voice from the back shouted out._

 _"Of course," Louise nodded in agreement. "As the most noble person here—" a strange, rustling sound came over the crowd, causing Louise to halt mid-speech. After a moment, she continued. "Anyway, as the most noble person here, it is my right to decide whether or not to forgive you._

 _"After many months of thought, and by the grace of the founder—" Louise felt a poke on her foot. Looking down, she saw nothing. Annoyed, she shrugged and carried on. "… I have decided that—" another noise, like that of a zipper opening. "That's it, who's making that noise!"_

 _"Probably the creature that snuck into your tent," Tabitha plainly answered, reading her ever present book._

 _"The what?"_

And then Louise woke up.

"Huh?" Louise shook herself as opened her eyes, back inside her expensive tent and not the familiar grounds of the Tristainian Academy.

' _Just a dream…'_ Louise sighed to herself, slightly disappointed. Turning her head, she moved to go back to sleep, only for a gust of wind to keep her awake.

 _'Stupid wind… Wait a minute.'_ Louise's eyes opened wide as she looked towards the tent's door, only to find it slightly open. _'I forgot to fully zip it up…'_ Louise realized, mildly panicked. Looking around, she noticed a small form sticking out of her bag. Unable to fully see exactly what the Pokémon was, she quietly nudged Brennaraki awake. As she did, Brennaraki groggily moved to glare at Louise, only to hear the intruder as her bag fall over and go on alert. Just as Louise's eyes adjusted to the lack of light did the Pokémon finally disentangle itself from the bag and began examining the small package that they managed to fish out of the bag did Louise recognized it as a Ralts.

' _It's…'_ Louise and Brennaraki silently watched as the Ralts attempted to tear into the package, only to fall back with a small cry as the package suddenly gave way, spraying the small berries around the tent. _'…adorable.'_ Louise internally squeed at the sighted, Brennaraki looking at her trainer with a hint of jealousy. That jealously turned went away as the Ralts turned towards them, a look of surprise on its face as it realized that they saw her.

"Uh…" Louise slowly sat upright, Brennaraki hopping in front of her defensively. The Ralts began to shake in panic or terror, Louise couldn't quite tell. She could tell, however, that it looked like it wanted to bolt, but was instead frozen stiff. Sympathy rising, Louise raised her hands upward.

"Hi there," she softly whispered to the Ralts, who continued to shake. "It's okay. We're not going to hurt you. See?" Louise softly nudged Brennaraki who, with a slight glare, backed down from her defensive posture. Slowly, the Ralts began to stop shaking and, although trying to make herself distant, remained in the tent.

"I'm going to get out of my sleeping bag now, okay? Is that alright with you?" Louise soothed the scared creature who, after a moment of consideration, nodded its head. Smiling, Louise removed herself from the confines of the sleeping bag until she was finally free. She then maneuvered herself to the Ralts and sat down, curling her legs underneath her as a seat.

"Oh, where are my manners. My name is Louise," Louise held out her hand. When she was still with Professor Sycamore, she had read up on the Ralts and learned that, even when compared to other Pokémon species, they were exceptionally intelligent. Some were even smarter than people, amazingly, and she hoped that to be the case here.

Recognizing the gesture for what it was, the Ralts began to calm down and slowly walk towards the outstretched hand. After gazing at it, the Ralts cautiously grasped one of Louise's fingers with its own hand and together shook their arms up and down.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ralts," Louise smiled at the adorable sight. Looking down at the package that the Ralts managed to rip open, she saw that it was the small package of Oran Berries that she bought in town. With a knowing smirk, she looked back down on the Ralts. "Hungry, huh?" At her question, the Ralts slowly nodded its head, embarrassed.

"Here," Louise picked out an Oran Berry and held it to the Ralts. Its face morphed into one of confusion and hope, and as it looked at Louise's face she smiled. "Take it, I have plenty." Hungrily, the Ralts took hold of the Oran Berry and began to slowly eat it, savoring each bite. Apparently, this Ralts loved Oran Berries, Louise noted with mild amusement. Curiosity bubbling up, Louise pulled out her Pokédex, causing the Ralts to stop mid bite.

"It's a Pokédex. I scan you with it and it tells me what you are. See?" Louise pointed the Pokédex towards the Ralts and activated the scan function.

" _Ralts, the Feeling Pokémon. Ralts are native to the Hoenn region and uses its horns as psychic amplifiers to both attack and read the emotions of people and Pokémon,"_ the Pokedex's voice quietly rang out.

"See, perfectly harmless," Louise smiled at the Ralts, who had walked over to look at her image on the Pokédex, eating the Oran Berry all the while. As it continued to eat, Louise turned her attention towards the open tent and her eyes narrowed.

"So," Louise began to ask, her attention never leaving the tent door, "what brings you to my tent?" At Louise's question, the Ralts stopped its eating. After a silent moment, a series of images began to enter Louise's mind.

 _'Oh right, psychic,'_ Louise noted, after a bit of momentary confusion, as the images began to flash across. It wasn't as good as actual word, but it conveyed the message's meaning nonetheless. The images told a story of a young Ralts, living alone, hiding from people who would take her away. As a familiar collector entered the frame, Louise growled.

' _Him…'_ Louise angrily thought, with the Ralts, hearing her thoughts like spoken words, nodding in agreement. "Do you know where he is?" at Louise's question, the Ralts turned around and walked out of the tent. After placing a pair of pink slippers on her feet, Louise followed, careful not to wake Saito up. As she emerged from her tent, she saw the Ralts standing in front of the firepit, pointing out into the bushes.

"He went that way?" the Ralts nodded. Louise cupped her chin in thought before snapping her fingers. "Alright then, guess we're going this way," Louise declared, pointing in the opposite direction. The Ralts gasped and looked up at her in a great deal of confusion.

"What? It's not like I'm going to let you get caught by that jerk," Louise smiled and held out her hand. "Especially when you don't want to." At Louise's declaration, the Ralts grew silent before tears began to form. Shaking them off, she happily walked up and grabbed Louise's hand, who began to lead them out of the camp site. As they reached, the edge, however, the Ralts suddenly stopped and let go, refusing to follow Louise further.

"What is it?" Louise asked, confused. Upon noticing both Brennaraki and Ralt's expressions, with the Ralts clutching her nose, the answer became clear.

"Oh right, the Repel. Okay, uhm…give me a sec while I think of something."

The solution turned out to be returning Brennaraki to her Luxury Ball and tying a bandana round Ralt's face. It didn't fully succeed in keeping out the Repel's effects, it got the job done. As the trio continued to walk away from the campsite, the Ralts stared up at Louise.

" _So, got a name?_ " Brennaraki asked as she bounded up to the Ralt's side.

' _Huh? What do you mean'_ using her psychic abilities, the Ralts asked the Fennekin.

" _Well, for starters, my name is Brennaraki."_

 _'But…you're a Fennekin?'_

 _"Yes, but my name is Brennaraki. Louise gave it to me,"_ Brennaraki nodded her head towards her trainer. _"Didn't want to keep calling me by my specie's name. Humans are weird like that, but I like the name so I'm fine with it."_

 _'That…kind of makes sense. I'm just Ralts. Don't really have a name like yours or…Louise, correct?'_

 _"Yeah, that's her name. She's my trainer, and I'm her starter."_ Brennaraki smiled.

 _'Huh,'_ the Ralts cupped her chin. _'Forgive me, but I'm curious.'_

 _"No kidding?"_

 _'Oh, you be quiet,'_ Ralts lightly admonished Brennaraki. _'Anyway, what exactly…are you guys doing?'_

 _"Well, we're trying to beat the Pokémon League and become the Champions."_

 _'Pokémon…League?'_

 _"A big Pokémon Battling tournament the humans hold every year. To get in, we must get eight badges to qualify, then battle a bunch of really strong humans leading Pokémon until we become the Champions."_

 _'Sounds…violent.'_

 _"… Yeah, kinda, but that's not really the point. The point is that everyone gets to prove just how strong they are. That they deserve to be there, both to others and themselves."_

 _'Which one is Louise more concerned about?'_

 _"…What?"_ Brennaraki asked, her eyes narrowed.

 _'I didn't mean to intrude but, when I was showing Louise those pictures earlier, I got a peak into her mind.'_

 _"You looked into her mind?!"_

 _'Not on purpose! The door was wide open, and when I realized what I was looking at I immediately turned away. I'm sorry!'_

 _"…okay, fine. What's done is done,"_ Brennaraki huffed in annoyance. _"…What did you see?"_

 _'I saw…flashes, really. Memories, I think. A castle, laughing humans, a white room, meeting you. That last one was the happiest one for her, but the ones before that…weren't.'_ At Ralt's observation, Brennaraki sighed.

 _"It's not really my place to tell you, it's hers,"_ Brennaraki admitted. _"I will say that she has a need to prove herself, and I am with her til the end. Anything else, you'll have to ask her."_

 _'Oh…okay,'_ Ralts quietly replied. The conversation ended, the three continued their walk in silence. Ralts, feeling guilty, moved to apologize once again, only for Louise's voice to ring out.

"I think we're good," Louise placed her hands on her hips. Looking around, she turned towards the Ralts and kneeled to look her face to face. "This should be far enough from any of those collectors, okay. It was nice meeting you, Ralts." Louise smiled and held out her hand once again. This time, the Ralts shook it with much less hesitation.

"Come on, Brennaraki," Louise beckoned to her starter, who bounded up to her smiling. As the two began to walk away, back towards their camp, Ralts looked on, a pang of sadness entering her heart.

 _'I wish I had that…'_ Once the two disappeared, Ralts sighed and turned to walk the other way, only for a noise to stop her in her tracks. Turning around, she smiled, thinking that Louise and Brennaraki had returned, only to see she was alone. Another voice erupted, this time from another direction, and turning quickly she attempted to find its source. As the sound came up once again, Ralts slowly looked up to the treetops, only to see a dark, feathery form staring down at her with alert eyes. Her eyes widened as she recognized the creature as one of the other human's Pokémon team, and as it flew off to gather its trainer, Ralts turned and ran towards the direction Louise and Brennaraki walked off to.

* * *

"Do you think I did the right thing?" Louise asked her starter as they continued their walk. "I mean, it would have been nice to catch it, but that would have been hypocritical of me, wouldn't it?" At Louise's question, Brennaraki merely shrugged.

"I guess you're right," Louise sighed. "Well, at the very least Ralts is safe and hap—" a small form erupting from the bushes cut Louise off. Sharply turning around, Louise saw the Ralts from before, now clearly panicked.

"Ralts?! What's wrong?" Louise attempted to comfort the Ralts, who coward behind her legs. Images flashed into her mind, that of the collector and a strange Pokémon she had never seen before. Putting two and two together, Louise pulled Aile's Luxury Ball out of her pajama pocket while Brennaraki got into a combat ready stance. Soon enough, a small green bear erupted out of the bushes, running after the Ralts, only to stop once it saw her. Not recognizing the creature, Louise immediately pulled out her Pokédex.

" _Munchlax, the Big Eater Pokémon. Munchlaxes are among the most prolific eaters of the Pokémon world, and spend up to ninety percent of the day eating. They are capable of digesting most anything,_ " the Pokédex revealed as it scanned the Normal-type Pokémon. Her eyes narrowed as the scan revealed it to be a registered Pokémon, and it wasn't hard for her to guess its owner.

"Munchlax, you find it yet?" a familiar voice called out. "Munchlax?" the owner's voice rang out as he got closer to the group. Finally, he burst out from the bushes, confirming his identity to Louise: it was the same collector as before. Judging by even more disheveled appearance than before, he must have spent all night tracking Ralts down. The heavy bags under his eyes revealed a total lack of sleep, but even then, upon seeing Louise they narrowed. "Oh, _you_."

"What are you doing here?" Louise venomously asked. In response, the collector crossed his arms.

"None of your—" the collector stopped as he spotted the green head of the Ralts cowering behind Louise. "Hey! That Ralts is mine!"

"Don't you see she doesn't want to go with you!?" Louise shouted. "Just leave and find a different Ralts! One that can somehow stand your-uhgh-smell," Louise clutched her nose as the man's stench finally reached her nose, attempting to waft it away.

"Why you little-!" the collector grew red with rage. "I don't care what it thinks! Get out of the way!"

"Or _what_?" Louise asked, her eyes dagger-like slits glaring at the man. Instead of answering, he grew silent before quickly nodding his head. Louise only had a moment of confusion before a sharp sound erupted from beside her. Ducking down, she grasped Ralts in her arms and dived out of the way as a feathery Pokémon swooped down towards the small green and white Pokémon. Brennaraki, incensed at the danger his trainer was in, fired off an Ember towards the creature, finding her mark, only to find it did nothing. As she got to her feet, Louise let go of Ralts, who ran behind her in fear, and pulled out her Pokédex.

" _Archen, the First Bird Pokémon. Archen once thrived millions of years ago but are now extinct. Thanks to Devon Corporation innovations, scientists were able to bring the extinct creature back to the modern world from fossils of its plumage. It is the earliest recorded feathered Flying-type Pokémon in history, but it could only glide from the branches of the trees it lived in."_

 _'They brought back a fossil to life!'_ Louise stared wide-eyed at the Pokédex. The collector, rather than use her distraction to try and get Ralts away, looked smug at seeing his Pokémon get scanned.

"You have a Pokédex, I see. Here, let me help you fill it out," with his intent to show off his collection obvious, he tossed out another Pokéball, revealing a plump, pink fairy with a happy expression on its face. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction but needing to know what she was about to face, Louise reluctantly pulled out her Pokédex and activated its scan function.

" _Clefairy, the Fairy Pokémon. Clefairy's rarity is well known and as such is highly sought after by trainers and collectors alike. It was previously assumed to be a Normal-type Pokémon, but recent research has resulted in its reclassification to a Fairy-type,"_ Louise frowned at this, but silently released Aile from her Luxury Ball. At first, Aile was groggy and irritated, but upon seeing the opposing Pokémon quickly snapped to attention.

" _Okay, what I miss?"_ Aile asked, hovering in place.

" _That sleaze ball over there,"_ Brennaraki pointed to the collector, " _is trying to catch her,"_ Ralts waved at Aile, " _and we're stopping him."_

 _"… Okay then."_ Aile narrowed her eyes at the collector.

"Leave. Her. Alone," Louise growled at the collector, who glared at her.

"Give me that Ralts. Last chance," at the collector's demand, Louise narrowed her eyes.

"No." A heavy silence descended over the path, both trainers and Pokémon glaring at each other, Ralts still cowering behind Louise's leg. After a pregnant pause, the silence broke.

"Aile, Tailwind! Brennaraki, Fire Spin!"

"Munchlax, Rollout! Archen, Smack Down!"

At their trainer's command, the Pokémon descended into a brawl, charging at each other. Aile, with powerful flaps of her wings, created a gust of wind from behind while Brennaraki released a fiery vortex. The Archen leapt over the Fire Spin at Aile and opened its mouth. A small, golden orb formed before shooting out at the small bird. As it neared, Aile dived below it before it violently exploded, the shockwave barely ruffling her feathers. Meanwhile, the Munchlax curled up into a ball and launched itself towards Brennaraki, who dodged to the side before firing a Psywave into its rolling form. As it skidded across the ground, Brennaraki fired another Fire Spin towards the downed creature, engulfing it in flames.

Archen and Aile, meanwhile, entered a sort of dogfight. Aile, much nimbler, was able to dodge the Archen's leaps, who was unable to take flight. Seeing how it wasn't working, Archen paused and focused until four small stones lifted from the ground around its head. After a few moments, they were launched towards Aile in succession. The first who she dodged easily, the third just barely, but the fourth struck her directly. With a pained squawk, Aile crashed onto the ground. Her attempts to get back up were quickly met stopped as the Archen smacked her down with its wing. As it attempted to do so again, it was suddenly struck by a Psywave launched by Brennaraki, who had come to rescue her comrade.

"Girls, switch targets!" the two Pokémon immediately complied, Brennaraki staying on the Archen while Aile sped towards the Munchlax. The Archen managed to pick itself up rather quickly and fixed its attention towards the fire fox that blindsided it. Annoyed, Archen launched itself towards Brennaraki with a blinding fast swipe of its wing. Too fast to be dodged, Brennaraki took the hit and skidded back, never leaving her feet. Growling, Brennaraki formed an Ember in her mouth and launched it at the Archen, who took it with nary a scratch. Seeing how her Fire-type attacks were ineffective, Brennaraki switched to Psywave, firing off multiple waves of energy towards the Archen. It attempted to dodge, but the attacks found their mark and sent it flying off into a bush. Aile, in the meantime, focused on the Munchlax, flying over its attempts to hit her. With a combination of Quick Attacks and Pecks, Aile dive bombed the Munchlax repeatedly, who was unable to effectively counterattack.

"Dammit!" the collector yelled out in frustration as Archen returned to the battlefield.

"Let me guess," Louise smugly called out, "your team is so focused on catching Pokémon you can't actually- Where's the Clefairy?" Louise yelled out as she noticed a distinct reduction in pink. Turning around, she saw the Clefairy behind her, that smile now sinister.

"Clefairy, use Sing!" the collector confidently called out. Brennaraki immediately fired off an Ember towards the Clefairy, but it merely took the hit as it began to sing. As it's soothing voice rang out over the battlefield, intense drowsiness engulfed the participants. Aile went down immediately, falling into a deep sleep, while Brennaraki fell soon after with a light snore.

' _Must…keep…awa…'_ Louise struggled to remain awake before succumbing to the siren's song and fell asleep. Ralts, having used her psychic abilities to keep itself conscious while her body fell asleep, was now defenseless as the collector and his Pokémon all stared at her, a look of accomplishment on their faces.

"Good job, Clefairy," the collector, taking out his ear plugs, sincerely congratulated his Pokémon, who smiled in at its accomplishment. The other Pokémon began shaking their earplugs out as well, relieved at the emptiness returning. Her body slowly waking up, Ralts attempted to get away, only for the Archen to pounce in front of her, with the Munchlax blocking her other exit. Fearful, Ralts looked up towards the collector, a yellow and black ball in his hand. "Finally."

' _Someone, please! Help!'_ Ralts screamed in her head, sending out pulses of telepathy to anyone that would listen, the Ultra coming its way towards her. Just before it made contact, Louise began to stir, panicked images racing in her mind. Groggily, she awoke from her song-induced slumber, only to see the collector about to place Ralts inside of an Ultra. Immediately she kicked the collector away and with an audible 'oof', he fell to the ground and lost his grip on the Ultra Ball. As the collector's Pokémon all raced to check on their trainer, Louise shakily got to her feet and pulled out the one Full Restore she had brought with them. With her primary concern being Ralts, she used it on her.

"You need to get out of here! Go!" Louise ordered Ralts, who got up to her feet. With the collector getting to his feet, Louise placed herself between him and his target. Ralts, meanwhile, stared up at Louise with stars in her eyes.

"Why won't you just let me catch it! Why do you keep getting involved!?" the collector raged. "This doesn't even concern you!"

"Well I say it does!" Louise shouted back in defiance, standing her ground. Upon noticing that Ralts was still there, she turned her head. "Ralts, I told you to run!" After a moment, Ralts shook her head and walked up to her, stunning both Louise and the collector. Her eyes glowed purple, and its horns began to shine.

 _'No.'_ Ralts telepathically thought, Louise's eyes widening a purple sheen began to cover the Clefairy.

"Did you just…?" Louise couldn't finish her sentence as a the Clefairy began to be psychically lifted into the air. Flailing around in a panic, the Clefairy was suddenly launched towards a nearby tree, striking it with an audible crack. Another glow and other Pokémon, along with the collector, were sent flying back as well, although with far less strength. As the glow subsided, Ralts turned her head to look at Louise expectantly.

"…Why didn't you do that before?" Louise raised her eyebrow towards the Ralts, who bashfully kicked the ground. A barrage of images told her that she didn't like violence that much. Before Louise could dig deeper, the collector got to his feet in a huff.

"Why you little-!" he growled out as he checked on the status of his Clefairy. Upon noticing it was knocked cold, he angrily returned it to its Pokéball. Feeling a slight tug on her mind, Louise looked down to see Ralts looking up at her expectantly. No words were spoken, but the meaning was clear.

"Okay, Ralts. What moves do you know?" Images flashed in Louise's mind, revealing the moves that she knew. A flash of images soon erupted in her mind, telling Louise that Ralts only knew four moves. What their proper names were, she did not know, but she would have to make do. As the collector angrily turned towards them, Louise sprang into action.

"Ralts, use Cute Cry!" Louise ordered, the command drawing confusion from the collector, not knowing what move she was referring to. Ralts, however, did, and opened her mouth and released a cute cry. Pink waves of energy flew out from her mouth towards the Munchlax and Archen, and while Louise thought it was adorable, the others did not, the sound causing them to clutch their ears in pain. The Munchlax, recovering first, rolled up into a ball and zoomed towards Ralts.

"Split Apart!" Louise commanded, with Ralts splitting herself into multiple different forms that surrounded the Munchlax. As the Munchlax rolled into one, it fell apart, revealing it to be a fake. Before it could attack another one, a psychic force began to rattle its mind, causing it to rattle its head in pain. The Archen, narrowing its eyes, leapt up into the air and, in an action meant more for clearing out dense fog, blew away the copies, revealing the actual Ralts. As her false copies dissipated, Ralts ceased her psychic assault of the Munchlax, who remained dazed. As it tried to walk over to the Ralts, it began to sway and wobble. After a few more wobbly steps, Munchlax faceplanted with an audible plop. It attempted to push itself off the ground, only to slip and faceplant once more. The third time, it managed to get to its feet, only to fall onto its back.

"Munchlax, snap out of it!" the collector shouted, beginning to panic. Shaking its head, Munchlax narrowed its eyes and curled up into a ball. It began to spin, building up more and more velocity before shooting forward at the Ralts. Like a Deerling in headlights, Ralts stood still in panic before Munchlax suddenly veered off course and slammed into a tree, hard enough to create a noticeable dented crack. Soon enough, the tree itself fell over, and the Munchlax uncurled but remained unmoving.

"Dammit!" the collector shouted as he returned Munchlax to his Pokéball. He attempted to give an order to his Archen, only to see it already on the move. Enraged at seeing its comrades fallen to the Ralts, Archen leaped towards the her, who suddenly created more copies to avoid the damage. With another quick flap of its wings, Archen again dissipated the false Ralts copies, revealing Ralts to be standing behind it. Before it could fully turn around it was suddenly pushed back by a psychic force. As it began to push itself off the ground, Louise shouted out another order.

"Fairy Mist!" At Louise's command, pink energy began to coalesce above Ralts before exploding, covering the area with a light, tranquil, pink mist, the grass itself turning pink as it absorbed the ambient Fairy energy. Archen lifted another set of submerged rocks, attempting to get off an attack.

"Cute Cry!" Louise shouted once again, which Ralts quickly unleashed. The excess Fairy energy emitted from the mist amplified the cry's power as it struck Archen. Clutching it head in pain, it glared at Ralts in anger and launched itself towards the recoiling Pokémon, only to be blindsided by a fireball. Looking to the side, the participants saw an enraged Brennaraki glaring at the Archen, Aile struggling to lift herself off the ground. Archen began to lift some small stones out of the ground, only for Brennaraki to charge him. As she did so, she became engulfed in flames which increased her velocity. Eyes widening, Archen attempted to get out of the way, but it was too late, its body too weak. The flaming fox slammed into the prehistoric bird, sending it tumbling with a few scorched feathers. It skidded across the ground before coming to a halt, its body unmoving. Silence descended over the air as everyone realized what had happened. Louise had won.

 _'Huh, Brennaraki finally got Flame Charge working. Been trying to get that all day,'_ Louise thought as she stared at the smug Fennekin. A sense of relief fell upon the group, but before Louise could revel in her victory, the collector dropped to his knees.

"No!" the collector screeched. Returning Archen to his ball, he clutched them tightly to his chest and began to rock back in forth. "No, no no…" Louise stood back, watching him in pity, something she did not expect to feel towards him. With a sigh, she returned Aile and Brennaraki to their balls and turned towards Ralts.

"Let's get out of here…" she slowly began to walk away, with Ralts quickly following her, leaving the wailing collector behind.

As the two walked quietly back to camp, both Louise and Ralts contemplated the events that transpired. They were happy to get her away from the collector, but his broken state afterwards was very uncomfortable to watch.

 _'Is that what happens if you focus too much on one thing?_ ' Louise asked herself as she pondered the collector. Those thoughts went away as she found herself back at the campsite.

"Well, Ralts, it's been…eventful, to say the least. I'm pretty sure your safe now, at least from him. I doubt he'll try anything for a while, anyway…" Louise knelt down to the Ralts. "Goodbye," Louise smiled and turned to walk to her tent, only to feel a tug on her pajama pants. Looking down, she saw Ralts look up at her expectantly, shaking her head.

"What? What is it?" Ralts responded by hugging Louise's leg tightly, as if she didn't want to be separated. With a gasp, Louise realized what Ralts was wanting. "You mean… But I… I don't…" Louise began to stammer, confused as towards Ralts' reasoning. With a smile, Ralts climbed up Louise's body before coming eyes level and resting her forehead on Louise's, sending a clear message: Ralts trusted her.

Happy tears welling up in her eyes, Louise rushed back to her tent and pulled an empty Luxury Ball from her backpack. Running back to Ralts, she offered the ball to the small Pokémon, who immediately touched the front button and was absorbed into it. Lighting up red, it mildly shook before finally clicking, confirming a capture. Louise, beaming, held the ball up to her face.

"Welcome to the team…Espirit."

* * *

As the sun shone into the tent, Saito groggily woke up and stretched out his arms. Smacking his lips, he got the distinct feeling that he missed something earlier, but the smell of cooking food banished those thoughts from his mind.

"Morning, Louise," Saito greeted as he exited his tent. "What's for… Why is there a Ralts here?" Saito stared at Louise, currently attempting to grill some sausage patties and hash browns in a skillet, with a Ralts kneeling at her side, along with Aile and Brennaraki. Judging by the smell, it was likely to end up as charcoal, but that was the least of Saito's questions. Tanuki and Ronin soon erupted out of their Pokéballs and joined in looking at the Ralts, although Tanuki's look was less confusion and more excitement. Seeing the attention on her, the Ralts shyly waved towards the three boys, who, except for the animated Tanuki, slowly waved back.

"Morning, Saito. This is Espirit. I caught her last night," Louise nonchalantly revealed as she continued to burn their breakfast. If she knew, she wasn't showing it.

"…I'm sure that there is a story behind that," Saito sighed as he started fishing a couple packages of jerky out of his backpack, "But I'm willing to wait until we eat."

* * *

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter for Outsiders! Louise had an encounter with a nasty collector, and in the process got a new Pokémon. A Ralts named Espirit. In case you are wondering about the name, Espirit is French for "mind".

Now, before I move onto the Q&A, I wanted to talk about the collector for a bit. First, he is purely a plot device. As such, he did not receive a name as he did not need one. Yet, at the same time, he also served as an important element of Louise's character development. He essentially is a living personification of getting way too deep into a single goal. In this case, it was Louise getting too focused on becoming Champion. He was way too focused on catching rare Pokémon, and his appearance reflected that. He was fat, sloppy, smelled, and in general had very poor hygiene. Yet his Pokéballs were pristine, which shows his true priorities. He cares more about his collection than he does himself, which is not a healthy mindset. In the end, Louise could only feel pity for the man, rather than her previous dislike.

We will be skipping the Q&A today as there weren't really any questions to be answered.

That wraps it up for todays chapter! Stay tuned tomorrow for the next chapter of Outsiders!


	17. Season 1, Episode 5, Chapter 2

**Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)**

 **Season 1, Episode 5, Chapter 2**

* * *

"So, let me get this straight," Saito spoke as he and Louise continued their trek north, their Pokémon following close behind. "Last night, Espirit over there," at the sound of her name, Espirit looked up and waved, to which Saito waved back, "wandered into your tent and woke you up."

"Yes," Louise nodded, munching on some leftover jerky that Saito had given her when it turned out her attempt at breakfast was fit only for a Torkoal.

"Rather than freak out, the two of you 'communicated', and when you found out the collector was hunting her down, you tried to help her."

"That is correct."

"However, the collector caught up to you guys, forcing a battle that ended with him putting your Pokémon to sleep and you commanding Espirit. When you guys returned to camp, Espirit didn't want to leave and so you got a Ralts."

"Exactly," Louise smiled. "Why do you act so surprised?"

"It's not that I'm surprised, it's just…," Saito sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Never mind." Sensing his stress, Espirit psychically sent soothing images to him, smiling when he turned to look at her.

"I swear, she is the most polite Pokémon I've ever met," Saito smiled back at Espirit, who bashfully looked away at the praise.

"I know! It's adorable!" Louise cooed, causing Brennaraki to grumble.

" _Jealous, much?"_ Tanuki smirked at Brennaraki, who began to sputter.

 _"No! Why would I be jealous of her!"_ Brennaraki angrily denied, causing Tanuki to laugh.

 _"There is nothing wrong with the attention she is receiving,"_ Ronin replied, a sea of calm to Brennaraki's storm. _"It is only natural. She is not abandoning you."_

 _"Who says I'm being abandoned and replaced!"_ Brennaraki growled. _"I'm not!"_

 _"Drama queen…"_ Aile scoffed at her teammate's antics. She didn't act like this last time, so why now?

 _"Why you little-!"_

 _'Ms. Brennaraki'_ Espirit's telepathic voice rang out though the Pokémon's minds. _'I'm sorry if I've caused you any distress. I don't mean to.'_ Brennaraki went silent at Espirit's sincere tone.

 _"…I just can't stay mad at you,"_ Brennaraki sighed, causing Espirit to smile.

 _"See, that's the spirit! Give her a chance!"_ Tanuki patted Brennaraki on the back. Looking back at Espirit, the blue canine smiled and flashed her a smile, which Espirit returned.

 _"Tanuki, my friend, you seem to be giving Espirit a lot of attention,"_ Ronin smirked towards a confused looking Tanuki. _"Should I be aware of something?"_

 _"I don't…Oh, you think…Nah, it's not that at all,"_ Tanuki waved him off. _"I just remembered how you acted when I joined the team, and trying to help her out."_ Ronin began to sputter at Tanuki's declaration.

 _"I… I did no such thing!"_

 _"Yeah, you kinda did, man. Cold shoulder and everything. It hurt."_

 _"I…I apologize for my-"_

 _"Nah, just messing with ya. About the hurt part. Everything else was true."_ As Ronin continued to sputter, attempting to apologize, Tanuki patted his shoulder and walked out front to Saito. Shaking his head, Ronin ran back up to him, leaving Brennaraki and Aile.

 _"…he is so lying,"_ Aile declared, to which Brennaraki nodded.

 _'Lying about what? It didn't feel like he was lying about anything…'_ Espirit asked, confused. When she only received strange looks from her teammates, she shrugged and turned forwards, continuing to walk with Louise and Saito. As they passed by a small field, Louise stopped, causing the party to stop in turn.

"Louise, what's wrong?" Saito asked, concerned.

"Nothing, just…" Louise breathed in and smiled. "Just remembering. This is where I caught Aile." At the mention of her name, Aile looked around before her eyes widened in recognition. "I wonder if those Combee are still here?"

"Why? Thinking about catching one?"

"No, just curious. It would be nice to meet them again, though."

"It would, wouldn't it?" Saito nodded in agreement. "Want to wait a bit and see if they show up? We aren't that far."

"No," Louise shook her head. "It would love to, but I honestly doubt that they'd come back here for quite some time. Speaking of which," Louise looked at a sheepish Aile, "something tells me that they would not appreciate Aile showing up." All eyes turned to Aile, waiting for her answer.

" _…yeah, she's probably right._ " Aile shrugged, causing the others to lightly chuckle. Except for Espirit, who crossed her arms and pouted.

 _'Aile, what did you do?'_ Espirit scolded, causing Aile's to slightly widen.

" _I, uh…tried to get some honey from them…"_ Aile looked around in confusion when Espirit frowned.

 _'Did you_ ask _for some?'_

" _…no?"_ At Aile's answer, Espirit's frown deepened.

 _'That wasn't very nice, Aile. You should apologize.'_

"Uh, Louise? What are your Pokémon doing?" Saito asked, raising his eyebrow in confusion as everyone looked upon Espirit scolding a confused Aile.

"I…I think Espirit is trying to get Aile to do something…" Louise guessed. If that was the case, it obviously wasn't going over very well.

 _'You know what, you should go apologize. We'll stay here and you-'_

 _"How about_ no _?"_ Aile flatly refused, causing Espirit to sputter.

 _'Wha… Why not?'_ Espirit exclaimed, not comprehending.

 _"Let me get this straight. You want_ me _to fly into the hive itself, whose members I helped attack in case you forgot, just to say sorry. That would be a very stupid idea even_ with _an entire flock to back me up, and you want me to go in_ alone _? Are you out of your mind!?"_

 _'I mean… I just thought…it would mean more if…'_

 _"Thought what? That I should be sorry for trying to get something to eat. Yeah, that's not going to happen. Not all of us can just bat our eyes and ask nicely to get what we want. Speaking of food…,"_ at this remark, Aile fluttered towards a nearby tree that looked like it had a few Aspears on it, ending the conversation and causing Espirit to stare dejectedly at the ground on her feet. Seeing this, Louise smiled and walked over.

"Let me guess, Aile wouldn't go along with what you wanted her to do?" Louise asked, with Espirit sending a series of images into her mind. "Ah, you wanted her to apologize? I can see why she wouldn't want to do that." Espirit nodded once again, clearly disappointed.

"Can I tell you something?" Louise quietly asked. After a moment, Espirit nodded. "You can't make someone apologize, not really. Take it from me…" Louise grew quiet. "If a person doesn't want to say sorry, even if they do say it when someone makes them, they don't actually mean it. Right now, Aile isn't sorry about what she did to the Combees. Making her apologize for it wouldn't mean anything," Louise stood up and smiled.

"Besides, I honestly doubt that the Combees would be happy to see her," Louise chuckled at Espirit's knowing look. Something told her that Aile expressed similar sentiments. After a few more moments of light laughter, Louise turned around and walked over to Saito.

"Ready to go?" Saito asked, the Pokémon all going to their respective trainers.

"Yes," Louise began to walk, Saito alongside her. "How long do you think it will take?"

"Hmm, probably another hour or two, if I had to guess."

"That's good. Much better than… Hold on." Louise stopped before a flowerbed, seeing something make the flowers move. The others saw it as well and tensed, the Pokémon putting themselves in front, until a small head poked itself out. It was a small, white fairy with a yellow, flowery crown on its head, and red dots on its cheek.

"Huh, what is that?" Saito leaned in, apprehension leaving his body. He began to reach for his Pokédex, but Louise was faster. As she pulled it open, the tiny creature had risen further out of the flower bed, revealing it to be resting on a flower.

 _"Flabébé, the Single Bloom Pokémon. All Flabébé carry a special flower called a Fairy Flower. When a Flabébé is born, they grab the closest Fairy Flower to them. This flower then stays with the Flabébé for the rest of its life,"_ the Pokédex's voice rang out, causing Saito's and Louise's eyebrows to raise.

 _'Huh, the Flabébé in the picture has a red flower, but this one has a white flower,'_ Louise thought to herself as she eyed the creature, thumbing a Luxury Ball on her belt. She contemplated trying to catch it, it seemed friendly enough as it chirped out a curious greeting, but as she read the typing, she put the device away.

 _'Nah, I don't need another Fairy-type.'_ Louise stood up, the head of the white flowered Flabébé to rise up with her. She could see it fully now, and to be honest it was adorable, but she already had an adorable Fairy-type. Standing, Louise began to walk away, Leaving Saito behind.

"You don't want to try and catch it?" Saito called out as he stood up.

"Don't need two Fairy-types. Feel free if you're interested," Saito heard Louise shout back. For a moment he turned to the Flabébé, his hand hovering near his Pokéball before stopping himself.

 _'Nah, I'm good. Not even sure how I would even train a Pokémon that small,_ ' Saito shrugged and walked away to Louise. As the two trainers continued to walk away, the Flabébé continued to watch them for a moment before she got pulled away by the wind.

* * *

"Ah, it's so good to be back in Lumiose," Louise exclaimed, basking in the sight of the city. After another hour of uneventful travel, the two trainers finally found themselves in Lumiose City. The familiar Prism Tower was a welcome sight to see, and after spending three weeks in the city, its lights and sounds were just as relieving.

"I must say, it is definitely a relief from nothing but trees for the past few weeks," Saito nodded. "So, straight to the Gym, or do you want to see the professor first?"

"I already talked to the professor, actually. He said that he was busy finalizing the research into why the Beedrill Mega-Evolved, and as such would not be available for a few hours," Louise adopted a serious look on face, one Saito soon developed as well.

"That is definitely weird. Mind if I stick around for that explanation?" Louise nodded at this. If she had to be honest, Sycamore had already assumed he'd be there. "Well, moving on, I guess we could go to the Gym, but it's not open for a few hours. Want to do anything, or meet up later?"

"I don't—" Louise was interrupted by the sound of her stomach growling, causing her to blush. Given how, in Saito's words, Louise's breakfast was so burnt a Torkoal would have second thoughts, the two didn't eat breakfast that morning. Saito smirked and began to chuckle before his stomach growled as well.

"…Well, looks like we're both hungry," Saito stated, averting his eyes from Louise's glare. "…You've been here longer than I have. Any suggestions?"

Louise cupped her chin in thought before nodding. "There's a bakery not far from here. Professor Sycamore took me there once, and they make a nice breakfast," Louise waved her hand and began to walk away. After a moment, she stopped and beckoned him to follow. Nodding, Saito followed Louise, neither of them noticing a pair of eyes following them.

* * *

"You were right," Saito mumbled through a full mouth, much to Louise's open disgust, "these omelets are great."

"Please don't talk with your mouth full," Louise ordered. With an embarrassed blush, Saito swallowed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry."

"It's fine," Louise politely took a bite out of her omelet, chewed, and swallowed. "And yes, these omelets are delicious." Wiping her mouth, Louise put her utensils on her plate, signaling that she was finished. Seeing this, Saito quickly finished his breakfast as well. Signaling their waitress, the two paid and left the building.

"So, where to now?" Saito asked, his hands in his pockets.

"I guess we can—" a ringing noise erupted from Louise's pocket, interrupting her. Pulling out her Pokédex, she opened it up to see a new message notification from the Professor, which she quickly opened and began to read.

"What's it say?" Saito asked, leaning in to try and get a better look. Before he could, Louise collapsed her Pokédex and pocketed it.

"He has his preliminary findings ready, and he wants us to come down to the lab," Louise smiled. With a nod, the began to head towards the lab. The two made idle conversation along the way, mostly about their strategies for beating Clemont and what they expected to face off against. As they passed by a Pokémon Center, however, the two stopped and looked at its doors.

"You know, I just realized that we should probably take our Pokémon in to get checked before we do any fighting," Saito stated.

"You're probably right," Louise agreed. With that, the two walked in and were immediately greeted by a nurse at the counter.

"Welcome to the Pokémon Center," the pink clad nurse smiled at them. Saito smiled back and continued forward, while Louise stopped in her tracks and simply looked confused.

"…Nurse Joy?" Louise scrunched her face in confusion. "How did you get here so fast from Santalune?"

"Santalune?" the Nurse Joy lookalike squinted her eyes before snapping her fingers. "Oh, I understand. That wasn't me. My cousin runs the Pokémon Center in Santalune."

"Your…cousin? But you look exactly alike." Louise just looked even more confused, while Saito looked on with sympathy.

"All of us do, across all the regions. See," Nurse Joy pulled out a photograph from below the desk. It appeared to be a family photo, with hundreds of filling up the frame. The fact that every single one of them looked exactly the same only served to unnerve Louise greatly.

"I don't… _What?_ " Louise's mind blanked as she stared at the picture, trying and failing to grasp any sort of understanding as to how every single female in an extended family could look practically the same. If she focused, she could see a few minute differences here and there, but for the most part they looked identical.

"Yeah, we get that a lot," the Nurse nodded. "Doesn't help that most of us run Pokémon Centers. Family tradition at this point, really." Joy's answer only served to further confuse Louise. Before she could question further, she felt a hand grasp her shoulder. Turning her head, she saw Saito look at her with sympathy. She could tell by his eyes that he once did the exact same thing.

"Louise, let it go," Saito advised, an unspoken conversation going on.

 _'How!?'_ Louise silently asked the boy.

 _'I stopped asking myself that years ago.'_ Saito silently replied. With a reluctant sigh, Louise dropped it and pulled out her Luxury Balls.

"Well, now that we got that out of the way, how can we serve you two today?"

* * *

"I have seen many things since I got here, each more fantastical than the last, and _that_ ," Louise pointed to the Pokémon Center, more specifically the person inside of it, "is the most confusing thing I have seen yet."

"I know, Louise. I know," Saito nodded.

"Seriously, is there like a farm or something? There is no natural way that they all look like that."

"People have been trying to answer that question for years, Louise. The Joy, Jenny, George, and Porter families are very tight lipped about that. Personally, my theory is that they have a cloning lab somewhere, but frankly there are more important things to worry about." Louise moved to retort but stopped and sighed, figuring he was right. Soon enough, the two walked up to the lab, and with a nod to each other, they knocked on the door. From the other side, they heard movement, the ruffling of papers and moving of chairs until the door opened, revealing a slightly unkempt Sycamore with bags under his Louise.

"Louise!" he yawned as he opened the door wider. "Come in, come in."

"Thank you, Professor…," Louise thanked the tired man as she and Saito entered the building. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, this?" Sycamore pointed to his eyes. "Just lack of sleep. Ever since your encounter with that Mega Beedrill, I've been focusing so much on that I haven't been much of it. Trying to find out why and how it happened."

"That…makes sense," Saito nodded. "You are the expert on Mega Evolution."

"Ah, you must be Saito," Sycamore offered out his hand in greeting, which Saito quickly took hold of. "Louise told me a lot about you. And how the two of you met. She can be quite a handful, can't she?"

"Hey!"

"Hah!" Saito laughed. "Yeah, she kinda is."

" _HEY!"_

"She grows on you though," Sycamore chuckled, which Saito nodded to as well while Louise continued to grumble about the indignation of it all. When Sycamore stopped chuckling, his face adopted a more serious expression.

"But, you two aren't here for that. Come with me, we're going to the lab." Sycamore turned and walked away, Saito and Louise quickly following. As they entered the research area, they saw a large, complicated looking machine at the far end, a familiar gem lying inside.

"That's the Beedrillite!" Louise exclaimed as she recognized the sphere. Sycamore nodded.

"It is. Viola sent it up that night for me to look at. I've been analyzing it ever since, trying to find out _exactly_ what happened."

"Have you?" Saito questioned.

"Nothing conclusive, but I have a pretty solid theory. To fully confirm it, I needed Louise to be here, actually."

"Me?" Louise pointed to herself.

"You think her magic as something to do with it?" Sycamore looked at Saito as he asked his question.

"Hmm, so you know?"

"About the magic thing? Pretty hard to deny that after she said a word and caused an explosion. The whole other world thing I'm still on the fence about." Saito nodded in confirmation.

"Well, allow me to confirm the other world," Sycamore pressed a button, causing a screen to light up and display a image of energy readings. "I wouldn't expect either of you to understand what this is, so I'm not going to ask. These are the energy reading of a normal human being. Myself, specifically, taken from about a year ago, well before I met Louise. This was necessary to serve as a control.

This," Sycamore pressed another button, causing another image to appear alongside the old. Saito and Louise gasped as they noticed it was much more chaotic. Alarmingly so. "This, is a reading of Louise, taken the day after we met."

"What… What is it saying?" Louise leaned forward, while Saito remained motionless.

"It's as I said. It's a confirmation of your being from another world," Sycamore stared forward at the images. "Saito, are you familiar with the concept of a multiverse?"

"I…yes?" Saito quickly glanced at Louise, who continued to stare at Sycamore, rapt in attention.

"Good, then I can get straight to the point. Between each universe, there is a boundary between them. We call this boundary 'Ultra Space', which was recently discovered by researchers in the Alola Region. I've been in contact with Professor Burnet, an expert in the area, and she explained to me that there is evidence that people and Pokémon have traveled through Ultra Space before. People who did so emitted similar energy signatures as Ultra Wormholes, gateways between Ultra Space and our world. Louise, the fact that you emit the exact same is proof that you travelled through Ultra Space."

"Okay, she fell through an Ultra Wormhole. How does that prove she's from another world? I've heard of other people who have ended up going through them and coming back out, but I haven't heard anything about people from other worlds coming through," Saito mumbled to himself, with Sycamore patting his shoulder.

"Wait, so your saying that me going through Ultra Space caused it to Mega Evolve?" Louise raised her eyebrow, to which Sycamore shook his head.

"Not exactly. This is actually where I needed you to help. If you can cast an explosion over there," he pointed to a contained area with thick glass. It almost looked like a firing range. Louise nodded and entered the range, closing the door behind her. Putting on some safety goggles and ear protectors, she pulled out her wand and shouted a word, aiming at the far end. Her voice was blocked by the thick walls of the range, but they could hear the muffled explosion even from here. At Sycamore's urging, currently focused on a monitor, Louise casted a few more muffled explosions until the professor beckoned her to stop.

"Well?" she asked as she exited the sealed room.

"These are only preliminary, and I will need more time to fully analyze it," Sycamore continued to read the data, "but from I can see, it looks like my theory is right." Turning in his chair, Sycamore rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward.

"It wasn't just the Ultra Energy your body was emitting. It was your Void Magic as well."

"My magic did this?" Louise flinched back.

"Partially," Sycamore clarified. "Whatever Void Magic is, it disrupts normal energy signatures and bonds. Thermodynamics, electromagnetism, whatever it is, Void Magic modifies or, pardon the pun, voids it," Sycamore's voice began to rise in excitement, along with his body.

"Every time you make an explosion, Louise, you aren't simply creating an explosion out of nothing. Your _splitting an atom_ , disrupting the electromagnetic forces that bind the particles together. If I'm correct, and based off of what you told me, your world's magic operates by manipulating the atoms themselves. I think your magic can _stop_ that manipulation by disrupting the fundamental forces that bind them together!"

"Okay…" Louise's eyes widened. _'Going to look into that later…'_ , she thought, but she recognized the beginning of a ramble. "How does that explain why the Beedrill Mega-Evolved?"

"Oh, right. Simply put, Louise, the combination of your body emitting Ultra Energy, the disruptive effects of Void Magic, and spending a week in close proximity with you caused the Mega Stone to mistake you for a Key Stone, and then it activated!"

"And once she left, it stopped," Saito concluded.

"Precisely!" Sycamore threw his arms into the air in excitement while Louise slumped down into a chair. Rubbing her forehead, Louise sighed.

"Okay, so me and my magic caused it to happen. How do we make sure that it doesn't happen in the future?"

"Still working on that, but I believe that so long as there is another Key Stone in the area, and the Mega Stone hasn't been in prolonged direct contact with you, you should be fine."

"What if _I_ want to use Mega Evolution, though? I have a Ralts now, and both of their fully evolved forms can Mega Evolve." Sycamore cupped his chin at Louise's question, deep in thought.

"I don't have an answer for that yet, unfortunately. For now, if you find any Mega Stones, I want you to send them to me. Do not keep them on you until I can find a better solution. Sorry."

"It's fine," Louise stood up and smiled. "Thank you, Professor."

"No problem, Louise. I take it you two are heading to the Gym now?"

"Correct, sir," Saito responded.

"Well, I wish the both of you the best of luck. I know Clemont, and he will prove to be quite a challenge."

"Not going to make that mistake again," Louise mumbled under her breath before beginning to leave, "I'll see you after the battle, Professor. With any luck, I'll win and head on to the next Gym tomorrow."

"Well, you two are welcome to stay with me over the night," Sycamore offered, to which Saito politely shook his head.

"I… Thank you, sir. I'd be honored," Saito quickly accepted. He'd been planning on staying in a hotel or the Pokémon Center, but there was no way he'd pass up on a chance to stay with the Regional Professor.

"Understandable," Sycamore nodded. At that, the two trainers nodded their heads respectfully and made their way out of the lab, Sycamore's Garchomp providing a welcome escort.

"So," Saito began as they left Sycamore's lab, "do we head to the Gym together, or go our separate ways?"

"Well, what's your plan?"

"I was just going to take a cab. I've never been in this city before, so I'm not even going to _attempt_ trying to walk there," at Saito's admission, Louise developed a sly grin.

"Well, I _do_ have experience in walking around in Lumiose. I bet I can get us there."

"Uh-huh. Right… If it's all the same to you, I'm just going to take a cab. You can walk there if you want." Louise pouted at Saito's refusal before standing upright.

"You know what, I will. I will prove to you that I can get there on my own," Louise haughtily raised her head. "In fact, I bet I'll get there first." Saito let out an amused chuckle.

"Sure, I'll let you do that. First one to the gym wins, deal?" Saito stretched out his hand, which Louise grasped and shook. With a nod, she turned and walked away, leaving Saito behind.

* * *

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Louise and Saito have gotten back to Lumiose and have gotten an answer in regards to a question everyone has had for the past 2 episodes: How did the Beedrill Mega-Evolve? The answer? Combination of Void Magic, Ultra Energy, and just plain being around it unshielded for a week. Now, onto the Q&A:

 **Pacer287** : Espirit represents a few different things about Louise. In particular, Espirit does indeed represent Louise's lack of Self Confidence in herself. As you can probably see, Espirit is a powerful Pokémon, but she is not all that confident in her battle abilities. Just like how Louise, despite her bluster, is not confident in her magical abilities in ZnT canon. At the same time, Espirit is also the caring side of Louise, especially towards the people she cares about. As you can see, Espirit is very much the mother of the group, a role she will grow into more as time goes on.

 **Thanos Cradik** : Glad to see you over here! We are almost caught up with the Spacebattles thread, just a few more chapters. At that point, these daily updates will cease and turn into a weekly update schedule. And yes, a Wild Pokémon, much less a Beginner Trainer without the time to consult the Move List, would not know the names of the moves. She just had to guess.

 **PokemonFan93** : Louise was succumbing to a large amount of bias there, both in terms of what would have happened to her and her experiences with Elizabeth. In short, she was projecting. There are perfectly good collectors out there, Louise just hasn't met them yet. As for why Espirit trusted her so quickly, Espirit wanted positive human companionship, and with her empathic abilities was able to see that Louise's intentions towards her were pure. Coupled with trying to protect her from the collector meant that Louise earned her trust and she decided to go with her. Espirit is French for "Mind", and since Ralts is a Psychic type, we felt it fit. And yes, Gardevoir is a beast. One of my favorite mons.

That concludes this chapter. Stay tuned tomorrow for the next chapter of Outsiders!


	18. Season 1, Episode 5, Chapter 3

**Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)**

 **Season 1, Episode 5, Chapter 3**

* * *

As soon as Louise released Saito's hand, she took off in a sprint, leaving the boy behind. Saito could only chuckle to himself, placing his hand in his pocket and keeping an eye out for a taxi. Soon enough, one entered his view, and he raised his hand to signal the driver. As he did, a sharp bang from a nearby alley caught his attention. With a noticeable jump, Saito turned and faced towards the dark alley.

"…Uh, hello?" he called out, his hand slowly reaching for his Pokéball. A dark shape soon revealed itself, causing him to hastily pull out a Pokéball in warning. As the figure stepped into the light, he lowered his hand it revealed itself to be a dirty young boy, staring at him with wide, pleading eyes.

"Hey there," Saito greeted the boy. Looking around in an attempt to find his parents and finding no trace, Saito knelt down to look at the boy eye level. "You lost? Where's your parents?" The boy said nothing, unnerving Saito even more, before suddenly turning around and running back into the alley.

"Hey, wait!" Saito shouted as the boy ran off. Seeing how no one else was around, and unwilling to let a child, Saito quickly took off in the sprint, hoping to find and help the lost child. The boy turned out to be quite fast, with Saito only catching glimpses of him as he traversed the long winding alley until eventually he found himself at a chain link fence, with the boy nowhere in sight. Cursing silently to himself, Saito looked around the alley, only to find nothing but a few trashcans and lose bricks, neither a child nor a hiding place in sight.

As he was silently stewed on where they could have gone, a cold laugh echoed just behind him. Spinning around in a fright, he was greeted by a dark, human-shaped shadow about half of his height that was just standing against the wall of the alley, casually throwing a brick up and down in its hand.

"Uh, hello… I guess you haven't seen a kid here, have you?" Saito cautiously stated. The ghost cocked it's head to one side before violently throwing the brick right by his face and into the fence behind him. Saito quickly expanded a Pokéball as the ghost unleashed another spine-chilling laugh.

"Well if it's a fight you want… Water Gun, Ronin!" Saito yelled out as he threw the Pokéball. In a flash, Ronin landed and quickly fired off a stream of water, however the ghost merely cackled as the water passed through harmlessly. Before Ronin had a chance to attack again, the ghost quickly launched another brick, forcing Ronin to roll out of its way and Saito to duck.

"Ok, water won't work. Try Air Slash!" With a frustrated shake of his head, Ronin grabbed the scalchop from his chest and slashed toward its midsection, but again the ghost allowed the strike to skid across its midsection, apparently only scrapping the bricks it was leaning against, and quickly darted forward with a clawed hand that narrowly missed the otter. Narrowing his eyes in confusion, Saito attempted to scan the ghost in front of him with his Pokédex to figure out just what it was but it returned with an error.

"What the hell is this thing?" he muttered as Ronin fired off another Water Gun that passed harmlessly over it as it melted back into the ground. Another laugh echoed in the alley before another brick was thrown from somewhere, this time slamming into Ronin's head. Seeing how this was going nowhere fast, Saito pulled out Tanuki's Pokéball.

"Ok Tanuki, let's see what you can come up with!" With a cry, Tanuki bounded forward from his ball, but upon seeing the shadow disappear, he scrunched his face up in confusion. The Ghost quickly reappeared again along the wall, leering at the hound. "Meteor Mash!" Saito commanded, but Tanuki remained still as he closed his eyes, "Uh, Tanuki?" Saito asked in confusion before Tanuki suddenly opened his eyes and dashed to a nearby trashcan. Grabbing a lid, he twisted his body around and threw it towards a higher up windowsill.

"Tanuki, What are you do-!" Saito questioned but stopped himself as the lid bounced off something that moaned in pain and then surprise as it fell from its perch and into some garbage cans, the ghost suddenly dissipating into nothingness. The small figure noisily untangled it's self from its undignified landing and stumbled out from behind a bunch of garbage cans clutching its head.

All those present stared incuriously at the figure before them "Tanuki? Are you sur-" Saito started but quickly cut himself off as the Pokémon snapped his head up towards them and growled in annoyance. As it did, two sickly, blue-white flames snapped into life above its head and a garbage can lid was wrenched in front of it like a shield. Tanuki quickly dashed forward but a familiar shadow suddenly darted up from the ground and grabbed his leg, swinging him into a nearby wall. As Tanuki fell to the ground, the figure threw a pair of flames at the downed hound.

"Apparently so...Water Gun Ronin!" Ronin, still unsure of how the battle had suddenly turned out, shot a stream of water at the Pokémon before them. The figure simply waves it's hand, angling the lid to deflect the weak stream and casually threw a black ball that slammed into the surprised otter, throwing him back nosily into the fence. Quickly the figure swiped it's hand back and brought the lid around in time for a fist to embed its self into the middle of it. Tanuki narrowed his eyes, ripped his fist back and kicked the lid up, exposing the distorted figure that quickly disappeared in a haze.

"Ronin, you ok?" The otter responded by flipping himself back to his feet and muttered angerly at himself, apparently pissed off that he got suckered like that. "How about you, Tanuki?" the hound grunted in confirmation as he patted out a few strands of fur that were still on fire.

"Ok, Tanuki, you know where he went?" Tanuki closed his eyes again, only to get beaned by a brick, driving him to the ground, with more laughter echoing around the alley as the figure appeared on a fire escape. Saito was able to get a slightly better look at it, although it was still obscured by shadow. It was small, probably at most two feet in height. Whatever it was, though, it was strong.

"Razor shell, Ronin!" Saito yelled as Ronin dashed up with a war cry, only for it to turn to surprise as his shell passed straight through the figure. The shadow dissipated, only for another to form and grasp the outstretched arm, quickly spinning Ronin around and before throwing him high into the air amid another round of cackling. At this point, Tanuki stood back up, rubbing the back of his head as a deep growl escaped his muzzle. Amused, the Pokémon walked out from behind some garbage bags with a visible smirk on his face while he held his arm above his head.

"Tanuki don't attack just yet!" Saito called out but in warning, he was already in motion, his fist glowing as he ran forward. The figure simply waited until Tanuki was a few feet from him and dropped his arm, causing a flailing Ronin to slam into him from above, driving both of them into the ground, causing the Pokémon to almost double over laughing. Before they could recover, it disappeared into another distorted flash.

"You two ok?" Saito quickly moved up next to the downed pair, "Don't suppose he decided to run away, do you?" An almost musical chirp quickly answered him from behind. Slowly turning around with a grimace, he spotted the little demon casually kicking his feet as he sat on the chain linked fence with a smile grinning down at them. He would have looked innocent if it wasn't for the four flames that hovered around his head and a pair of bricks on either side of him. Tanuki almost charged him but an outstretched arm stopped him.

"Just charging him isn't getting us anywhere, Ronin you distract him and get him to expose himself, Tanuki hang back and wait for an opportunity and surprise him when it happens." The pair nodded in confirmation Tanuki jumped back up to the fire escape and Ronin stepped forward.

"Now, I don't know what it is that we did, but I'm willing to let bygones be bygones. Just let us go, and we'll never bother you again."

" _He tells the truth, foul oni_ ," Ronin glared at the creature. " _Let us pass._ "

" _Ooh, I'm shaking!_ " the Pokémon mocked. " _How can I possibly defeat a half-assed weaboo playing a samurai and his pet dog. Oh, I suppose the Riolu's around here somewhere, maybe he can take the dog to the vet!_ "

 _"… I take it back,_ " Ronin scowled as he pulled out his scalchop, incredibly insulted. " _I will enjoy this._ "

"Alright then. Ronin, spray down those fireballs!" Ronin immediately sprayed out a wide stream of water that snuffed out the balls and swiftly dodged the bricks that were thrown in retaliation. Despite the loss of his fire, however, the demon simply continued sitting on the fence with that exact same smirk still plastered on his face.

"That's a fake, MOVE!" Saito shouted, just in time as a pitch black orb shot out from somewhere and slammed into the ground. As the blue otter dodged, a growl echoed through the alley as two more fireballs hissed into life in the air over him. Ronin prepared another wide stream when Saito noticed a shadow rearing up behind him.

"Duck and use Razor Shell behind you!" With the shadow looming over him, he quickly twisted on the balls of his flippers and delivered an uppercut on the shadow, splitting it in half and immediately dissipating in the air. The action, however, left him open to the encroaching fireballs. Spinning around, he quickly slashed though one that caused it sputter out but the last one hissed into his right arm, sparking another disembodied chuckle that was cut to a panicked wheeze that sounded vaguely above to his right.

Glancing over, he saw Tanuki apparently managed to track him down and was currently gripping him by his throat. He apparently attempted to stammer something out before which only served to infuriate Tanuki even more. Insulted, Tanuki spun the demon around and threw him to the ground hard. To his credit, he only bounced once before getting his bearings and summoning another black orb to his hands. He glared at the hound as he jumped down from his former hiding spot only, to get slammed into a wall by a solid stream of water. When the stream ended he shakenly got back to his feet only for Tanuki to grab his leg, throw him into the air, and deliver a straight punch to his gut, slamming him into the other side of the alley. He remained stuck to the wall for a few seconds before bonelessly flopping to the ground with a pained moan and wet plop.

"Good job guys!" Saito congratulated the pair as he took a Pokéball out from his belt and glanced back at the thoroughly soaked and exhausted Pokémon before him, now finally able to get a good look at it. His eyebrows raised with recognition. He knew this species.

"A Ralts. Hmm," thinking to himself, Saito gazed towards the downed Pokémon. He was obviously very skilled by the fact he could hold off two Pokémon for a while, not counting how skilled Tanuki was, and he could use a Psychic-typing to help round off his team. Not to mention the fact that it knew Ghost-type moves, which crossed off one critical weakness Nodding to himself, he threw the ball forwards.

"Welcome to the team!" he shouted as the Pokémon was absorbed by the light. Holding the ball in his hand, he turned towards Tanuki and Ronin, equally exhausted yet staring at the ball intensely. Whether it was excitement or irritation, Saito couldn't quite tell, but he at least was just happy it was over with. Clipping the Pokéball to his belt, Saito turned around and made his way back out of the alley. Finding himself back out onto the street once more, he sighed to himself as he remembered the bet with Louise.

"Dang it, Louise is probably going to beat me at this point…" Saito sighed as he looked for a taxi, the prior one having already driven off. Another taxi soon showed itself, and flagging it down, the taxi parked next to Saito.

"Prism Tower, please," Saito requested. With a nod, the taxi driver began making his way through the Lumiose streets, leaving Saito to his thoughts.

 _'Yeah, she's probably already there. I mean, the Gym is seen across all of Lumiose. Who could possibly miss it? Just walk towards the tower and you're there.'_

* * *

"Where is the Gym?" Louise muttered to herself, staring at the city map to no avail. Unlike the Santalune Map, the Lumiose City map had no dedicated Gym icon, yet she knew that there was one here. She really wished she'd gone with Saito on the taxi, but _no,_ she got confident that she knew the city just because she lived there for three weeks. She didn't recall hearing anything about a Gym during her stay, why was she so certain she could find it? She debated going back to Professor Sycamore's lab and asking for directions, but after all her bravado earlier...it would be so embarrassing.

"Do you need some help?" A female voice asked. Slightly started, Louise turned around to see a shorter, teenaged girl with red hair and brown eyes clad in mostly green, a Pokémon she recognized as a Chespin standing by her side. A ways behind her stood a taller, black-haired, blue-eyed boy, clad in black and blue. Who looked an awful lot like Professor Sycamore when she thought about it.

"Er, yes," Louise admitted in resignation. "I'm looking for this City's Gym?" the other girl paused, before giggling.

"It's right over there, silly!" She laughed, pointing at the large tower at the center of the city.

"The Prism Tower?" Louise asked, gazing in its direction. Her obvious confusion only made the girl laugh even harder, only to be cut off by a grunt from the boy.

"Don't laugh. It's rude," the boy admonished, before turning to Louise. "But yes, the Prism Tower doubles as the Lumiose City Pokémon Gym." Seeing the embarrassment on Louise's face, he added, "Don't worry, it's a surprisingly common mistake. They really should mark that detail on the city maps."

"They really should," Louise muttered, shaking off her embarrassment. "Thank you very much for your help!"

With that she ran off towards the tower. It wasn't until she was halfway there that she realized she forgot to introduce herself, and mentally berated herself for forgetting common courtesy, idly wondering who those two helpful strangers were.

* * *

"Another trainer taking on the League, huh? Brings back memories, doesn't it, Alain?" the girl asked, a fond smile on her face as she basked in the memories.

"You make it sound like it was years and years ago. It was only last year, you know" the boy, now identified as Alain, chided. He then looked up at the sky. _'Someday soon...we'll battle again, Ash.'_

* * *

As Louise finally found her way to Prism Plaza, she excitedly thought that she had managed to beat Saito, despite getting lost. That hope was quickly dashed as she noticed a blue clad boy already leaning on the tower with a victorious smirk on his face. Dejected, she slowly made her way over the tower, disappointed in her loss.

"You're late," she heard Saito's voice tease her as she approached. "What's wrong? Did you get lost?"

"No," Louise insisted with an embarrassed blush on her face. "I simply took the scenic route."

 _"Sure_ you did."

"Moving on," the pink-haired girl declared, ignoring her black-haired companion. "We have Gym Battles to win."

"Right, right," Saito agreed, as the two of them turned towards the Gym. "In all honesty, I can't really talk about getting distracted. Got caught up in a Pokémon battle before I found a cab. Caught it, though, at least."

"Wait, really? What kind?" Louise asked her companion as they walked towards the sliding doors, only to jump as a short, blond-haired girl ran out and straight into them. Being considerably shorter than them, neither of the two were really hurt, though the little girl fell backwards.

"Owie...," the little girl grumbled.

"That's why I told you to be careful!" Another voice scolded, as a blond-haired boy clad in blue wearing large, circular glasses stepped out. He then kneeled down by the little girl. "Are you alright, Bonnie?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she insisted, standing up and using her arms to wipe the dust off of her outfit. She then turned towards Louise and Saito, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "Sorry about that. Are you two alright?"

"I'm sorry, too," the taller boy sighed. "My little sister can be a bit of a handful sometimes."

"We're fine, don't worry," Louise assured him. Not wanting to repeat her faux paus from earlier, she introduced herself. "My name is Louise Valliere."

"Saito Hiraga," her companion introduced with a nod.

"My name's Bonnie!" The little girl stated cheerfully, she then held up the yellow bag she was carrying. "And this is Dedenne!"

There was a moment of silence, before Bonnie got confused and opened up the bag herself.

"Asleep again!? But you were awake just a minute ago!" There was a squeaking noise from within the bag, as an orange, rodent-like Pokémon with red circles and black whiskers on its cheeks emerged from her bag, rubbing it's eyes sleepily.

"Dedenne, huh?" Louise mused, pulling out her Pokédex.

 _"Dedenne, the Antenna Pokémon. It uses it's whiskers to communicate with its far-off allies, and can use its tail to absorb electricity, which it then fires from its lower whiskers."_ The Antenna Pokémon yawned, gave a small wave towards Louise and Saito, and then went right back to sleep. At this, Bonnie sighed before closing her bag and setting it back to its original position. Something told Saito and Louise that this was a common occurrence.

"Moving on, my name is Clemont. It's nice to meet you." With all the introductions exchanged, the now-identified Clemont moved on. "So, what brings you to Prism Tower?"

"We're here to challenge the Gym Leader," Saito explained.

"Ah," at this, both sibling's faces fell.

"What's wrong?" Saito's face warped in concern.

"You see, he might not look it, but Clemont is actually the Lumiose Gym Leader!"

"What do you mean I 'might not look it?'" Clemont screeched in indignation, causing Bonnie to chuckle.

"You are!?" Louise gasped in surprise, not expecting the Gym Leader to be a boy around her age. Saito, on the other hand, developed a resigned look.

"But since you were just leaving...you can't accept our challenge right now, can you," Saito deadpanned.

"Nope. Afraid not," the Lumiose Gym Leader confirmed with a downcast look. "You see, one of my inventions went a bit awry-"

"-by which he means it exploded," Bonnie interrupted, her face deadpan. Her older brother shot her a look before continuing.

"As I was saying, one of my inventions went a bit awry, and it damaged a few important systems in the Gym. It's going to take me at _best_ a week to fix them all. At worst, it could take me a whole month."

"Oh," the two traveling trainers sighed in unison.

"Normally, I'd be able to have Clem-bot take on your challenge instead, but he's busy making sure nothing else explodes," Clemont explained. "So you'll have to come back another time."

"Clem-bot?" Louise questioned.

"Ah, he's a robot I built to help run the Gym. This Gym is in the center of the largest city in Kalos, so it gets a lot of challengers. Clem-bot usually takes over when I'm gone or need a break."

"Wow, cool," Saito admitted, seeing how such a thing could be useful. Louise thought about asking what a 'robot' was, but decided against it in case it was something that should be obvious to all the natives of this world. She resolved to ask Saito about it later.

"Well, I suppose there's no choice. We'll go visit some other Gyms and stop by some other time." Louise stated. "At the very least, it was very nice to meet you two… What is she doing?" Louise nervously asked Clemont as Bonnie began to look her over with a very intense look in her eyes.

"Hmm," Bonnie hummed to herself as she circled Louise, her hand resting in her chin. After finishing her circle, the entirety of which made Louise equally confused and slightly uncomfortable, Bonnie smiled and pounded her fist onto her palm. "You're a keeper!"

"I'm a what?" Louise was entirely lost at this point, while Saito could only look on in confusion and Clemont developed a look of horror. Bonnie, on the other hand, dropped down on one knee and outstretched her arm towards Louise.

"Please marry my brother!" At Bonnie's earnest declaration, the courtyard went silent, only to be broken as Saito collapsed into a fit of uproarious laughter. Louise turned crimson while Clemont, equally red, extended a large metal arm with three prongs for fingers from his backpack, grabbed Bonnie, and began to drag her away. Bonnie seemed to take it in stride, however.

"I've asked you to stop this a million times!" Clemont grumbled to his sister as he dragged her inside.

"Please consider it!" she yelled out with a wave before getting cut off by the Gym doors.

* * *

"You were no help at all," Louise angrily grumbled as she and Saito walked down the street.

"Oh come on, lighten up!" Saito chuckled. "You have to admit, it was funny."

"It was humiliating, that's what it was," Louise glared back. "What if someone's little sister or brother asked you to marry their sister?"

"… Is the sister pretty?"

"Saito!"

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" Saito laughed as he held out his hands. "I'd say no, don't worry. I'd rather get to know a person first before I make that big of a decision."

"That's good to hear," Louise nodded. "So…what now?"

"I…don't really know yet. I'm planning on going up to the next Gym, but there are multiple options that directly connect to Lumiose."

"Really? Lumiose has multiple Gyms?"

"No, rather they are close by. To the west, there is the Cyllage City gym, which uses Rock-types, to the north is the Laverre City gym, which uses Fairy-types, and to the north-west is the Coumarine City gym, which uses Grass-types. They're all tempting. What about you?"

"Going to plan out my next move over at Sycamore's lab. There is no way I'm going to let what happened last time happen again."

"That's smart," Saito nodded as they stopped at an intersection. After getting confirmation to cross, the two teenagers made their way towards Sycamore's lab, Louise confidently leading the way. She at the very least knew where _this_ was. As they reached the door, however, they paused to allow a man to exit the lab, only for him to stop as he noticed them.

"Sorry, I didn't think the Professor had aides at the moment," the man apologized and rubbed the back of his head.

"We're not working for Sycamore," Louise clarified with an unspoken 'anymore' meant for her. Saito, however, said nothing as he studied the man. He was dressed fairly plain and inconspicuous, with a pair of plain blue jeans and short sleeve shirt along with a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes.

"Ah, you're trainers then," the man nodded to himself and cupped his chin. "Are you here to get a starter?"

"No, we're just staying the night," Saito explained and raised an eyebrow. "I don't think we've caught your name. Mr…?"

"Where are my manners? I'm Nathan, pleased to meet you," the man now known as Nathan smiled, removing his sunglasses to reveal a pair of blue eyes. He started shaking Saito's hand before repeating the same to Louise. "Strange that you're staying with the Professor for the night instead of the Pokémon Center. Must be quite the story behind that."

"There's not much to say," Louise answered the implied question. "He helped me out a few weeks ago and he's willing to let us stay for the night. Are you by any chance working with Sycamore?"

"No, I'm an aide for Professor Juniper," Nathan answered, Saito slightly raising an eyebrow. "Professor Sycamore asked her for some notes on a research project on Mega Evolutions and I happened to be in town." Nathan finished speaking then raised an eyebrow.

"Say, weren't you there when that Pokémon Mega Evolved in the Santalune Forest?"

"The Beedrill?" Saito covered for Louise as she started staring at her shoes. "Yeah, that was weird. I thought Pokémon needed a keystone to Mega Evolve."

Nathan stared at them in thought for a moment before responding. "So did I, though I'm sure Sycamore will figure out what happened soon," he shrugged. "I heard that the Gym was closed temporarily. Any idea what Gym you two will go to next?"

Louise finally managed to pull her eyes off her shoes and responded, "We're not sure yet, actually. We were going to talk to Sycamore before deciding." Nathan hummed in thought before nodding.

"I suggest you head to Cyllage. The trail is easier than the ones to Laverre Town or Coumarine, and the Pokémon are usually less aggressive and easier to catch and train, so long as you stay on the trail." He took a quick glance at his watch and nodded his head towards Saito.

"In any case, it's been nice meeting you two but I have places I need to be. Be careful out there, you never know who will surprise you." With this, he took off at a quick jog down the street and soon disappeared from sight.

"What a nice man," Louise smiled to herself and turned towards the door before noticing Saito not moving, still staring after the man. "Saito? What's wrong?

"I—" Saito began to answer before being interrupted by the door opening once again, this time from a much more familiar face.

"Ah, Louise. Saito," Sycamore greeted them from the door. "Come in, come in. I was just about to make lunch. Tell me, how were your battles?"

"Funny thing," Saito shrugged, "the Gym is inoperable for a week, maybe even a month. We weren't able to battle."

"Ah, I see," Sycamore nodded. "Did one of Clemont's inventions explode?"

"Yes, actually," Louise nodded back, causing Sycamore to chuckle.

"Same old Clemont," Sycamore shook his head. "Funny thing, ninety percent of his inventions end up exploding, but the ten percent that don't end up revolutionizing everything. Like the Pokédex capable of housing a Rotom. But, enough about that. Come on in, I was about to make lunch." Opening the door, Sycamore led Louise and Saito inside, closing it behind them.

* * *

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Saito caught a new Pokémon, a male Ralts this time, and this one has a bit of a temperament doesn't he?

Now, I know that some people might wonder why we gave both Louise and Saito a Ralts. The answer is simple. In FoZ/ZnT canon, Saito and Louise are Familiar and Master. It is an intricate relationship between the two of them that was never broken, no matter what ordeals they went through. This relationship is something that we wanted to convey, pay homage to, and we all figured that giving them both the same Pokémon would best reflect that. Given how Ralts has two different final evolutions, coupled with our fondness of the line, made the choice obvious.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **MAJORMATT1234** : Thank you. We all wanted to come up with a good explanation as to why the Mega Encounter occurred and emphasizing Louise as being the cause and tying it to how she got to Kalos in the first place seemed to be the best beg for us.

 **PokemonFan93** : Louise's advice came from experience. She knew what she was talking about. As for Brennaraki, it won't really cause any major issues. Its as Brennaraki said. She just can't stay mad at Espirit. Louise actually does know about the Ralts line. Remember, she spent three weeks with Sycamore before leaving for Santalune. She learned a lot in those three weeks, and after the bad experience with Gardevoir on the internet, she learned about the final evolutions. Plus, she had Espirit for a few days, and as such could use the Pokédex to figure out what her Ralts could evolve into.

 **Kiri Kaito Clover** : I'm glad to see you enjoying it!

 **MBenz4268** : Arceus didn't actually open an Ultra Wormhole. Louise's Void did. All Arceus did was reverse the summoning spell. Think of it like ice fishing. Louise is the fisherman, the barriers between the worlds the sheet of ice, and the fishing pole the spell. Louise's void breached the barrier and let out a line into the other side. Arceus grabbed that line and pulled, which brought Louise through and into the other world. He was only able to do this because Louise kept the opening open long enough.

That is it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed! See you all...I guess later on tonight at this point.


	19. Season 1, Episode 5, Chapter 4

**Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)**

 **Season 1, Episode 5, Chapter 4**

* * *

Alone in his study, Sycamore continued to compile his notes. He had been working tirelessly on this research ever since Viola frantically called him that night, and only through sheer willpower and coffee was he able to stay awake. It didn't help that the League had contacted him directly about the event. They had been rightfully concerned about a non-Legendary Pokémon Mega-Evolving without a keystone, and he couldn't blame them. So far, the League was satisfied with his preliminary findings that he mailed them, but the sooner he could give a definitive answer the better. That it happened to Louise, a person he had come to care for deeply, only made him work harder. Especially since it appeared that she was the cause.

"What a mess," Sycamore sighed and rubbed his forehead. Reaching for a glass of water, he felt a distinct shake of the ground, causing him to lightly chuckle.

"Those two are still at it," he took a gulp of his drink. Immediately after their lunch, just a couple of sandwiches and sodas, Saito and Louise had gone out to the practice arenas next to the lab. Many trainers utilized it and given how Louise seemed dead set on becoming champion, she immediately dragged Saito over to them.

"Honestly, those two are quite the help to each other," laughing to himself, Sycamore refocused onto the task at hand. With any luck, he'd be finished by midnight tonight and would finally remember what it was like to get some proper sleep.

* * *

"Brennaraki, move!" Louise ordered. Brennaraki immediately jumped backwards while letting off an Ember towards a swooping Aile, who nimbly dodged the fireball. "Aile, do a fast feint!" she promptly ordered her other Pokémon. Aile dived with a Quick Attack, aiming towards Brennaraki's right side. Charging up a Psywave, Brennaraki let it loose towards the speeding bird, who at the last second spun out of the way and struck the fox's left side.

"Good job, Aile! Brennaraki, watch out for feints!" Ever since the battle against the collector, Louise had been thinking about how that battle had gone. Something she had noticed was how he reacted to her attempts at commanding Espirit. He had no idea what she was talking about, which threw him off significantly. She wasn't willing to purposefully make up names for every single move her Pokémon could learn, but Louise figured that coming up with distinct move combos could be a huge advantage for her. At the same time, she wanted to further her Pokémon's skills, and so far, battling other Pokémon seemed to get the best results. As such, she had Brennaraki and Aile battle each other, with her alternating giving them commands.

' _So, this is training? Seems tedious…but if this will make me stronger…_ ' Espirit grunted, standing by Louise's side and concentrating on her hands. She wasn't quite ready to battle the others, so right now she was practicing on improving her psychic abilities by trying to get Heal Pulse down.

On the other side of the practice field, Saito was doing the exact same thing with his Pokémon. He was having Tanuki and Ronin spar against each other, and the two of them were proving to be quite a show. Tanuki with his martial arts and Ronin with his scalchop, trading blow for blow. However, instead of ordering his Pokémon like she was, he was preoccupied with his latest capture.

"Maindo, come on!" he pleaded to a clutched Pokéball. "We're not going to get better if you don't come out!" Over lunch, Saito had told Louise and Sycamore how he come across his latest capture, a male Ralts he named Maindo. Apparently, it meant "mind" in some ancient Kantoan dialect, which his family originally came from before they immigrated to Unova. He thought that this would be a perfect time to bring him out and get to know him a bit more, but so far things haven't gone over so well.

"Just come out already!" Saito commanded only to have something bounce off the back of his head. On closer examination, the object turned out was a chip. Scowling, Saito turned around to spot Maindo as he casually sat on a rock, eating out of an open bag of Tamato flavored chips.

"Look you can eat later but for no-" Saito started only to have Maindo blow a raspberry, spraying him with half chewed up chips, and teleport to the other side of the training arena.

"Grrh," Saito growled before walking away in a huff. Maindo laughed as he did, but Saito paid him no heed as he walked up to Louise.

"Having trouble with Maindo?" Louise asked in a sincere tone.

"Arceus, yes!" Saito threw his hands into the air. "He doesn't listen to a thing I say, and when he does he deliberately misinterprets my commands!" Louise saw that earlier, and from what she saw it seemed that Maindo was deliberately disobeying Saito's commands. When Saito had told Maindo to use Confusion, he used Double Team. When he asked him to do something called Shadow Sneak, Maindo instead used Teleport and completely vanished for the past ten minutes, apparently to steal the bag of chips he was currently eating out of. At least Maindo wasn't trying to hurt Saito, but whether that was because he didn't want to, or the other Pokémon were with them remained to be seen.

"What am I going to do? I'll never be able to use him in battle at this rate," Saito sat down on a nearby bench and rubbed his hair. Louise sighed and, with a wave of her hand, beckoned her Pokémon to continue their training and sat down beside him.

"Want my advice?" Louise asked, and after a moment he nodded. "You need to put your foot down. Hard, if need be. He won't listen on his own? Make him. You're the trainer, make him recognize that. Otherwise, he'll never respect you and this will keep happening."

"That's only going to alienate him more," Saito retorted before sighing. "I just don't get it. I mean, I didn't have this problem with Tanuki and Ronin! You didn't even have this problem with Aile! But Maindo, Arceus he just…"

"An asshole?" Louise repeated what Saito called her classmates before, causing him to sigh.

"I was going to say difficult," Saito groaned into his hands while Louise stared at Maindo, who seemed particularly keen on Saito's current frustration. He almost seemed to be enjoying it. Narrowing her eyes, Louise got to her feet and turned towards Espirit.

"Louise?" Saito asked, rising to his feet.

"Stay there, I'll take care of this," Louise began to walk towards her Ralts, who stopped her psychic weightlifting as she approached. She knelt to Espirit's level, and while Saito couldn't quite hear what she was saying, it evidently got Espirit to stop what she was doing and walk over to Maindo.

"What did you…?" Saito watched Espirit walk over to Maindo in slight confusion.

"I asked Espirit to try and talk some sense into him," Louise explained as she and Saito watched the two Ralts begin to talk among themselves. "Figured that a fellow Ralts would make him more at ease."

"Huh," Saito hummed to himself as he watched them continue to talk. As the conversation stretched on, he allowed himself to smile. Maybe this would work. "What do you know?"

"See? All that was needed was a woman's—" Louise's reply was cut off by a loud slap, catching everyone's attention. She and Saito could only stare wide-eyed as Espirit stormed off in a huff, leaving Maindo behind, who was rubbing his cheek and smirking.

"Espirit? Espirit, what did he say?" Louise asked as her Ralts stomped up to her. A barrage of images soon flooded her mind. "WHY THAT VULGAR LITTLE…. I'LL KILL HIM!" Louise began to stomp over to Maindo, eager to give him a piece of her mind, only to be stopped by Saito.

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down!" Saito attempted to placate the enraged girl, the fact that Maindo started cackling wasn't helping in the slightest.

"OUT OF THE WAY, SAITO!" Louise demanded as she attempted to get around the boy, who blocked her path at every turn. After few more attempts, Louise stopped trying and took a few breaths to calm herself down, albeit with an enraged glare still directed towards Maindo. Seeing how Louise wasn't trying to murder his Pokémon anymore, Saito turned around to look at a still smirking Maindo.

"What the hell did you say to her?" he asked, turning his head towards Louise, still glaring at the smirking Maindo with murderous intent.

"You stay away from Espirit, you mangy dog." Louise huffed and stormed off towards the lab, recalling her Pokémon as she did. It appeared that, in her anger, she either ignored or didn't hear Saito's question. Left alone in the arena, he could only sigh.

"Well, looks like training is done for today," he rubbed the back of his head before turning back to his Pokémon. He quickly noted that both Ronin and Tanuki were glaring at Maindo. Evidently, they too heard what he told Espirit, and they weren't at all pleased. Seeing this, Saito began to glare at the Ralts, who continued to smirk.

"You know no one likes an asshole, right?" Maindo's smirk bloomed into a full smile, causing Saito to sigh and recall his Pokémon. Holding Maindo's Pokéball in hand, he stared intensely at it before clipping it to his belt. Someday, hopefully soon, Maindo would come around. He just knew it.

When Saito finally returned to the lab, he found Louise sitting and grumbling at the table, drinking a soda straight out of can. A silent glare directed towards him, or rather one of the Pokéballs currently clipped to his belt, told him she was not in a good mood.

"Well," Saito rubbed the back of his head and took an involuntary step back, "whatever it was that Maindo said to Espirit, I'm sorry." Louise said nothing and continued to sip her drink, still glaring at the Pokéball.

"I can see that you are mad," Saito held out his hand and stepped back even further. Seventeen years of life was screaming at him that now was a good time to leave, and he was going to follow that advice. "I'm just…going to get something to eat. I'll be at the bakery we ate breakfast at if you need me." Silently nodding, Saito turned and left the lab, Louise never getting out of her seat. The door shut behind him, Saito sighed and hunched over.

"That could have gone better," he groaned before walking off. Certain that the foul mood Louise found herself in would wear off in time, Saito allowed his thoughts to drift towards what he was going to eat. There were a lot of options, from sandwiches to pizzas. He could even have breakfast again, if he wanted. All this and more was on his mind as he entered the bakery and grabbed a table. Pulling out a menu, he held it close to his face to where he couldn't see anything else.

"What to pick, what to pick," he mumbled as he browsed the menu, only to stop as he heard a chair slide out. Lowering the menu, he saw the chair opposite of his being held by a tanned woman around his age. She was wearing a navy-blue dress with white trim, her verdette hair held up by a silky hair band. Her dark maroon eyes bored straight into his own, causing Saito to blush.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is this seat taken? _Keeheehee…_ " she laughed in a silky tone.

"Umm, I…uh," Saito stammered and sat up straighter, trying to be polite. "No, no it isn't." The woman smiled at his answer and began to sit down.

"Do you mind if I sit here? This really is the best seat in the house," Saito stole a glance towards a large empty booth right next to the window. He was about to point it out to the woman when he noticed that her eyes never left him, and with a deep blush he rubbed the back of his head.

"I…I guess," he nervously laughed. The woman, taking this as an answer, sat down completely and pulled the chair up to the table and pulled out a menu of her own. Silently, Saito pulled his menu up as well and began to read, taking a discreet look at the woman sitting across from him.

"Where are my manners?" the woman suddenly put her menu down and placed her hand on her chest. "I don't believe that either of us have been properly introduced."

"Oh, uh…" Saito, surprised, put his menu down and coughed. "I'm Saito. Pleasure to meet you, Miss…?"

"Elizabeth," she chuckled softly and held out her hand, which Saito slowly grabbed. "Charmed."

* * *

"Where is he?" Louise paced around the lab kitchen. It had been an hour since Saito left for the bakery, and he still wasn't back yet. It was only a five-minute walk from the lab, and it shouldn't have taken him so long to eat and get back. She was starting to get worried.

"Louise, he's fine," Sycamore yawned as he held a mug of steaming coffee in his hands. He had only just finished compiling and sending out the Mega Beedrill Event notes to the interested parties, and now he was just wanting to relax. A stressed out teenaged girl was not helping him do that. "Stop stressing."

"Still," she crossed her arms and huffed. Sycamore sighed and gestured for her to sit next to him, which Louise did, her arms still crossed.

"Listen, he's fine. He has his Pokémon with him, and even if one of them has an attitude problem—"

"Don't remind me," Louise grumbled, only to be cut off by a flat look from Sycamore. His normal patience had been burned out by the sleepless nights, and Louise promptly quieted herself.

"As I was saying, he is safe with them around. There is no need to walk around like a restless Meowth that just lost its coin."

"Yeah…," Louise sighed before straightening out. "Regardless, I'm going to go find him." Before Sycamore could even come up with a reply, Louise was already walking out the door.

"Geez," he sighed and rubbed his forehead. Turning his head, he saw Garchomp looking at him with a knowing stare. "There is no use dissuading that girl once she has her mind set on something, is there?" Garchomp grunted and shook her head.

Closing the door behind her, Louise began to march straight to the bakery. Despite the Professor's reassurances, she couldn't help but worry about him. What if something went wrong? Did another Pokémon attack him? Did he get lost, finally? All these worries and more swirled in her head as the bakery came in sight.

"There he is," Louise noted as she spotted Saito sitting at a table. It appeared he was talking to someone, having a good time. She couldn't see who it was, as the person he was speaking to was obscured by someone else. Saito glanced over out the window to see her standing there and smiled before waving her over.

"I swear," she shook her head and walked into the bakery. "Saito, you better have a good…" Louise trailed off as she finally got a good look at the person Saito had been talking to. A woman, a very familiar woman.

"What is this?" Louise's voice had a much sharper edge to it than normal, which Saito appeared to not notice.

"Louise, this is Elizabeth. Elizabeth, Louise," Saito obliviously 'introduced' the two. Elizabeth turned around in her chair and gave a faux smile to Louise, her eyes shining with devious intent. Getting out of her chair, she lightly laughed and walked towards her, arms spread wide as if going for a hug.

"You must be Louise!" she said brightly, the disquieting feel she had projected the last time the two girls had gotten so close was almost palpable despite her only spreading her arms for what appeared to be a friendly embrace. "Saito has told me so much about you! You must be quite the lucky little girl to have a friend like him!"

"…We've been travelling together recently, yes." Louise fumed, glaring at both people in front of her.

"Saito told me about your travels together. Oh, what fun you two must have had!" Elizabeth laughed, tilting her head slightly to brush a few stray curls away from her face, then turned to look at the still oblivious Saito, the set of her smile shifting to something more possessive. "But I just couldn't possibly go on my own! Such journeys are best done with friends, after all. Sadly, none of my friends are quite into that kind of thing. If only there was someone who shared my desire to see the world. _Keh heh._ "

"Don't give up! Keep looking," Saito earnestly advised, still not fully grasping her intent but nevertheless blushing. "I'm sure you'll find someone to travel with soon. I mean, so far traveling with Louise has been…" Saito trailed off, his smile going away as he finally took in the sight of a furious Louise glaring at him and Elizabeth with murderous intent. It was almost as if Louise was trying to set fire to them both from her eyes.

"Louise is something wrong?" Saito asked in confusion, not understanding what got her upset. He reached out for her, only for Louise to slap his hand away.

"I'm fine," She growled and walked away. "Don't let me interrupt your date." At that, Louise walked out and slammed the door behind her, walking away in a huff.

"This isn't a…" Saito tried to protest but was too late. All eyes were on him and Elizabeth, and he sighed. "I should go after her. I'm sorry, don't know what was up with her. She's not usually like this…at least to this extent."

"Simple jealousy, I've seen it countless times," Elizabeth replied, her tone almost pitying as she turned away from the door and let her countenance relax into a more genuine smile. "It would cause more harm than good to go after her now. Give her some space and let her cool off on her own terms. Trust me, I've learned that lesson the hard way." She walked back to her seat and sat down, brushing a few curls away and met Saito's eyes again, entirely unfazed by what had just happened.

"Still…," Saito rubbed his head and looked back at Elizabeth. "Have you two met each other before or something?"

"She's a rather distinctive individual, I'm sure that I would remember her if we had met," Elizabeth chuckled, her tone regaining her earlier joviality.

* * *

"WHY THAT NO GOOD, BACKSTABBING, MANGY DOG!" Louise screamed in an alleyway next to the bakery. Kicking a trashcan, she pulled her hair and screamed in absolute rage. How dare he! How dare he spend time with that thieving witch!

"STUPID DOG!" she shouted and kicked a trash can hard, too hard in fact as she clutched her foot in pain. Hopping on one foot, she sat herself down, took off her boot, and began to rub, fuming in her rage. As she did, one of her Luxury Balls opened on her own, revealing a concerned Espirit.

"Espirit? Why did you…?" Louise shook her head in realization. "Oh right, you can sense emotions. Don't worry, I'm fine. Just…venting." Louise replied before clutching her foot, wincing as she squeezed the injured toe. Espirit looked at her trainer in concern and walked over to injured foot. Placing her hands on the injured foot, Espirit closed her eyes and concentrated. A faint pink glow soon enveloped her hands and spread to the foot, and after a moment the pain subsided.

"Looks like you finally got Heal Pulse down," Louise smiled before looking downcast. Noticing this, Espirit look up at her trainer in concern, and a few images danced across Louise's mind.

"Saito being an idiot, that's what happened," Louise shook her head with a frown. More images flashed, and she sighed.

"He was having a date with Elizabeth Colette, the person who tried to steal Brennaraki," Louise scowled. " _After_ I told him what she did! How could he?!" More images appeared, causing Louise to look at her Pokémon in confusion.

"What do you mean? Of course I told him who she was." More images appeared, and Louise squinted her eyes. "I told him that a thief tried to steal Brennaraki… Oh." Louise's eyes widened in realization.

' _I never told him her name or what she looked like…'_ Louise thought and slapped herself in the forehead. How could she be so stupid! How was he supposed to know that Elizabeth was the thief if she never told him what her name was or what she looked like! Shaking her head, Louise looked back down at Espirit, a thought coming to her head.

"Espirit, does he know who Elizabeth is?" She had to be sure, and sure enough Espirit scrunched her face as she concentrated on the nearby bakery, trying to isolate Saito's mind from all the others. After a few moments, the Ralts shook her head.

"He doesn't know," Louise narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "…Does Elizabeth know who he is? Before they met up here?" Once again, Espirit concentrated, this time on Elizabeth, and after a much longer period of time opened her eyes her eyes with an exhausted nod. The images painted a more complete picture, one of Elizabeth, by pure circumstance it seemed, spotting Saito and Louise enter the city together and coming upon Saito all alone at the café. It looked to be a sort of tit-for-tat behavior meant to get back at Louise for the last time they met. Clenching her fist and grinding her teeth, Louise's anger returned in full force, only now directed towards a much more deserving target.

"Why that little…" Louise scowled before a thought entered her head. She then stood up with a wicked smile emblazoned on her face. Elizabeth tried to pretend that they had never met, did she? Two could play that game.

"Thank you, Espirit. I'll take it from here," her wicked smile still shining, Louise returned a content Espirit to her Luxury Ball and began to march back to the bakery. Walking through the doors, she walked right over to Saito and Elizabeth, their conversation ending as she did.

"Louise, you came back!" Saito smiled while Elizabeth's smile turned brittle. "Listen, I wanted to…"

"You don't need to apologize," Louise waved her hand. "My behavior was unacceptable and uncouth. You did not deserve that, and I apologize. May I?" Louise pointed towards another empty chair. Elizabeth flinched and was about to say something when Saito cut her off.

"Sure, go right ahead. We have plenty of room," Saito got up and pulled the chair out for her. With a smile, Louise sat down and made herself comfortable while Saito smiled in relief and Elizabeth looked at her in noticeable worry and concern.

"So, Elizabeth, was it?" Louise played coy, causing Elizabeth's eyes to narrow. "Tell me, how did you and Saito meet?"

"I met him here," Elizabeth replied after a beat. "He seemed so lonely that I couldn't bear to just stand by."

"Oh, so you're a good Samaritan, then?" Louise smirked, causing the verdette to slowly nod.

"O-of course. One must be kind and courteous in all actions, after all."

"I one-hundred percent agree," Louise's smile grew wider while Elizabeth's face scrunched slightly in suspicion. "It is only proper to consider how one's actions could hurt someone else before undertaking them."

"I'm living proof of that," Saito mumbled to his breath, only to receive a playful bop on the head.

"Oh, hush you," Saito looked confused at Louise's behavior now, sensing that something was up. Good, her plan was working. "Your dress is marvelous, by the way. Where'd you get it, I'm on the market for some new clothes and I only the best."

"It's one of a kind, custom tailored," Elizabeth earnestly smiled, believing that the rosecrown had given up her advantage. "Cost a fortune, but I'm quite fond of the result."

"I see, no expense is too great? Let nothing get in the way of what you want, am I right?" Saito squinted his eyes at Louise's answer while she faintly smirked. "I'm the same way, but I always strive to make sure that I keep others in mind. Don't want to hurt anyone, after all." Louise turned to look at the now thoroughly confused boy, whose eyes were rapidly shifting between the two girls.

"Am I…missing something?" he looked between the two girls, trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. Louise merely laughed and waved him off, her eyes telling him to wait.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all," Elizabeth replied, her tone hardening as she glared daggers at the smug rosecrown.

"So, Elizabeth, you mentioned travelling. You a Pokémon trainer?" Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and nodded. "So am I! Want to meet my Pokémon?" Elizabeth's flinched and made a strangled sound Saito's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"No, no that's not necessary…" Elizabeth waved her hands, trying to dissuade the rosecrown, who only smiled wider.

"Nonsense! This is a Pokémon friendly venue after all," Louise pulled out a Luxury Ball, her smile turning wicked. "This is my starter, Brennaraki. Say hello." Before Elizabeth could protest further, Louise released the Fennekin stored inside. Shaking herself, Brennaraki smiled at Louise before turning to introduce herself to the woman, only to back up and snarl as she recognized the woman in front of her.

"What is…" Suddenly it clicked, and Saito's blood ran cold. "…It was you. You were the one who tried to steal Brennaraki that night…"

"Yep," Louise confirmed, crossing her arms behind her head while Elizabeth looked panicked. Saito, however, merely looked enraged as he looked at the verdette, demanding answers.

"Did you know I was travelling together with her?" Saito demanded, only for Louise to answer for her.

"She saw us come in together, yes," Louise smirked with a glare directed towards the scowling Elizabeth. "When she saw you all alone, it was an opportunity to get back at me she couldn't pass up." Saito's scowl deepened, and Elizabeth's panic increased.

"Listen, she—" Elizbeth tried to defend herself, only to be cut off as Saito clenched the glass hard enough to form a small hairline fracture barely noticeable to the human eye. In a state of tunnel vision, Saito stood up and doused Elizabeth's with its contents. Slamming the glass down with an audible crack, Saito stormed out of the café without saying a word, not even looking back. Louise began to smile wickedly, only for it to turn into shock as she took in the sight of Elizabeth's face. Before Elizabeth could ask what was wrong, a sharp pain erupted on her face as blood began to drip down.

Clutching her face, Elizabeth ran to the restroom, Louise quickly following after her to help. Opening the door, she saw Elizabeth starring in horror at her reflection, specifically at a large jagged cut that was now marking her face.

"Founder…," Louise gasped before flinching back as Elizabeth turned to look at her, face twisted in absolute rage.

"Look at this!" she pointed to the cut while grabbing a few more paper towels to wipe it off.

"Okay, I know it looks bad, but I have a Ralts that knows Heal Pulse. She can—" Louise offered while holding up Espirit's Luxury Ball, only to be cut off as Elizabeth stormed up to her.

"Does it look like I want your help!?" Elizabeth barked back and pointed at the shocked Louise. "This entire month has been one disaster after another, all because of _you_ and your stupid boyfriend!"

"What did _I_ do?" Louise threw her arms out.

"Everything!" Elizabeth broadly accused. "Because of you, I got cut off from my parents! Because of you, I had to get a dead end job just to get anything decent anymore! Because of you, I have to deal with coworkers I despise and serve customers I hate! Because of you, I got this cut that's likely going to scar! Everything wrong that's happened to me has been because of you! So no, I don't want your help!"

"…Okay then," Louise scowled, her earlier sympathy now replaced with irritation, and stared back unflinching. "What is it that you want?"

"I want a rematch," the verdette resolutely declared, much to Louise's surprise.

"…What?" Louise stared back blankly, while Elizabeth merely fumed.

"I. Want. A rematch," Elizabeth emphasized slowly. "Otherwise I report him to the police." Louise fumed at her theat. Yes, it looked bad, but it was an accident. Saito deserved a scolding, at most, not getting reported to the police. Plus, she was his friend. Her first human friend in a very long time, and the fact that she was threatening her friend made the decision clear.

"Fine," Louise scoffed. "Only if you leave Saito out of this."

"Deal," Elizabeth agreed. Louise held out her hand to mark the agreement, but Elizabeth angrily brushed passed her and out the restroom door. Clenching her teeth in anger, Louise turned around and followed after her. She caught up to her in short order, but none of them said a word.

* * *

"I have never been so humiliated in my life," Saito sulked at the practice arena. "I should have seen it but- Gagh!" Saito threw his hands in the air in exasperation. In hindsight, the warning signs were there. The excessive laughing, the overly flirtatious behavior, she was just using him to get to her. As he continued to sulk, he spotted Louise enter view. He got up to apologize once again, only to scowl as he saw Elizabeth walking beside her.

"What do you want- What happened to your face!?" Saito's anger turned to shock as he spotted the bandages now covering Elizabeth's face. Rather than answer him, she glared at him before stomping to one end of the practice arena. As Louise began to move to the other, Saito stopped her in a great deal of confusion.

"Louise, what is going on? What happened?" He asked in a great amount of worry.

"I'll tell you after the battle. Right now, I need you to be the referee," Louise replied while glaring at Elizabeth. Walking over to her end of the arena, Louise placed her hand next to her belt. "So, how we doing this?"

"How many Pokémon do you have?" Elizabeth demanded, her hand slipping inside of her navy purse.

"Three," Louise answered, showing her Luxury Balls with a hint of pride.

"Then I'll use three as well," Elizabeth pulled three Pokéballs out of her purse and held them out before strapping them to the purse's exterior.

"I'm surprised you even have more than one Pokémon," Louise admitted, causing Elizabeth's teeth to clench before she regained composure.

"If you must know, I have built a collection of rare and powerful Pokémon for years, and my family has hired the best trainers in the region to train and care for them. All live in the lap of luxury at the Collete Lumiose Estate, which is more than I can say about that Fennekin of yours." Elizabeth scowled.

"You tried to steal her!" Louise accused, causing Elizabeth to flinch back before scowling.

"I was not stealing her!" Elizabeth stomped the ground in protest, deeply offended. "I was going to leave ten times her value on the desk! That's more funds than Augustine could get on his own for an entire year! I was buying her! I would never stoop so low as to steal something!"

"'Buying' something without permission is still stealing, thief," Louise scowled, growing impatient. "Go on and release your Pokémon already." Elizabeth snarled before pulling out a Pokéball.

"Well, I guess we're doing this," Saito grumbled to himself before walking over to the referee's box. Putting his personal feelings aside, Saito dusted himself off and did his best referee impersonation. "This will be a three on three Pokémon battle. Standard rules apply, and eliminations are by knockout or ring out. Are the trainers ready?"

"Of course," Elizabeth huffed.

"I am," Louise declared with confidence.

"As the challenger, Elizabeth gets to choose her Pokémon second. Louise, you may release your Pokémon."

"Thank you, Saito," Louise smiled and threw out a Luxury Ball. "Let's show her who's boss, Brennaraki!" The shiny Fennekin exploded onto the battlefield, a confident smile emblazoned on her snout.

"Alright then," Elizabeth's predatory grin unchanged as she prepared to do the same. "Let's see how you handle this. Go, Gengar!"

"You have a what!?" Saito shouted and Louise blanched as the Pokéball opened, releasing a round, spiked purple shadow. Shaking, and her confidence rapidly shrinking, Louise pulled out her Pokédex to scan the creature.

" _Gengar, the Shadow Pokémon. The final evolved form of Gastly, Gengars have the ability to blend themselves into any shadow, granting them extraordinary stealth capabilities they use for hunting, evasion, and the occasional prank,_ " the Pokedex's voice sounded off.

"How…how do you…?" Louise finally sputtered out, causing Elizabet's smirk to redouble.

"My collection, remember," she announced as if it were obvious. "All three of my Pokémon come from it. They'll be more than enough to… Where'd Gengar go?" Elizabeth blinked her eyes and looked around a suddenly empty field, outside of an equally confused Brennaraki.

"Umm…," Louise scratched her head, trying to find the suddenly missing Pokémon. As the humans and Pokémon continued to search for the Gengar, a shrill scream suddenly directed their attention. Turning to the source, they saw a young girl laying down on the ground, pointing at a laughing Gengar, her brother doing the same at her misfortune.

"What?" Elizabeth's flat tone sold her confusion, along with everyone else, though one could hear the rage simmering underneath, before she shook her head and snarled. "Gengar, get back here!" Rather than come back, Gengar turned to her and blew a raspberry before disappearing again. A few seconds later, a new scream shouted out.

 _'Guess he's more interested in pranking than battling…_ " Louise droned as she turned towards a horrified Elizabeth.

"Uhh… Gengar has left the field, apparently. He is out by voluntary ring out, I guess…" Saito was just as confused as everyone else, but rules were rules.

"What?!" Elizabeth shrieked in protest, but after a moment shook her head in conceit. Conceding, Elizabeth pulled out her Pokéball to return the Gengar, only for the recall beam to fizzle out before it could reach the Pokémon, which was now scaring more passerby from behind a wall. Grumbling to herself, Elizabeth pulled out her second Pokéball. "Go, Sharpedo!"

"Sharpedo?" Louise raised her eyebrow as the Pokémon in question came out onto the battlefield. It was as blue, shark-like Pokémon without a tail, a red star on its forehead. She might have been intimidated by it, had the Sharpedo not been flopping around like a fish out of water. Which, now that she thought about it, it kind of was. Seeing how it wasn't doing anything anytime soon, Louise calmly took out her Pokédex and activated its scan function.

" _Sharpedo, the Brutal Pokémon. The evolved form of Carvanha, Sharpedo patrols the oceans using jets of water ejected out of its back. Gangs of Sharpedo are brutal towards all in their territory, earning the species the title of Bully of the Sea._ "

' _Guess outside of the sea they're a bit helpless…_ ' Louise sweat dropped as the shark continued to flop around. Judging by the look on its face, it was not happy. Neither was Elizabeth for that matter.

"Stop flopping around and actually do something!" She commanded. With a snarl, Sharpedo decided to follower her command by turning around and blasting Elizabeth with a jet of water that erupted out of its mouth. Thoroughly drenched, Elizabeth shrieked and fell down on the ground before hissing as the salt water stung her cut. Ignoring the slight pain and still sitting, Elizabeth angrily recalled the disobedient Pokémon.

"Is… Is that a retire or…?" Saito asked in extreme confusion. He was not expecting this battle to play out this way, and a quick look at Louise told him she felt the same.

"Yes!" Elizabeth spat out, angrily placing the Pokéball back in her bag. This was turning into a disaster, and her rage was growing by the second. Another hiss of pain escaped her, causing her to reach inside her purse to pull out a handkerchief to dry herself with.

"So… Are any of your Pokémon actually going to battle or…?" Louise numbly asked. Elizabeth went still for a moment before slowly placing the handkerchief back inside her purse, her green hair covering her face. Rising upward, she looked up at Louise to reveal a face twisted into a rictus of manic fury. She removed a Pokéball from her bag, ignoring the last one clipped to its side.

"I know this one will! Go, Machamp!" The Pokémon erupted onto the battlefield, revealing a grey humanoid creature with four muscular arms. Standing upright, it flexed its muscles downward and roared out a challenge, causing Louise to sweat. This one seemed eager to fight, and in a hurry, she once again scanned the Pokémon in front of her.

" _Machamp, the Superpower Pokémon. The final evolved form of Machop, they can throw five hundred punches a second and with its four arms can attack in multiple directions at once._ " Louise gulped at this information, nervous about her chances and slightly hoping that it too would run off. Seeing that it didn't, and with the Fighting-type staring straight at her in anticipation, Louise shook herself out of her stupor and steeled herself.

"Well, I don't care how big it is! It's going down. Brennaraki, use Ember!" Louise shouted her command, which Brennaraki spat out in defiance. It zoomed towards the Machamp's face and impacted harmlessly. Machamp finally looked down and saw Brennaraki, who was surprised at how her attack did nothing but, rather than cower in fear she growled in defiance.

"Machamp! Use Mega Punch!" Elizabeth shouted an order, ecstatic that one of her collection was listening to her. A few moments passed, and when the Machamp did nothing she grew impatient. "Machamp?" Turning around to look at the verdette, Machamp gestured all four of its arms down at the defiant Brennaraki, ignoring another fireball striking his head.

" _You want me to fight that?!"_ he knew that his owner wouldn't understand him, but he hoped his point got across. Apparently, it did, as Elizabeth growled in anger.

"Yes, you're fighting the Fennekin!" Elizabeth stomped in frustration, causing Machamp to frown.

 _"I was promised a fight, not…this!"_ Machamp gestured down to Brennaraki once again. Brennaraki tried to take advantage of his distracted state by firing a Psywave at his head, but once again the attack was far too weak to do anything to him. With an amused chuckle, he nodded down at the shiny Fennekin and redirected his attention to his increasingly exasperated trainer.

"You fight what I tell you to fight! Now do something for once!" With a scowl, Machamp looked back down at Brennaraki, currently chewing on his ankles, and picked her up. Holding her up to his face, he didn't even blink when she launched a fireball straight at him.

" _…Forget this. I am not lowering myself to this level,"_ Machamp grumbled and lowered Brennaraki to the ground as he knelt. Elizabeth began to shout in protest, but an angry glare quickly silenced her. Brennaraki moved to attack him again, but an open palm stopped her.

" _Listen, kid. You got spunk. I like that, but I'm not going to fight you. We both know how a fight between us would turn out."_ Brennaraki responded by growling.

 _"Says you!"_ she barked. " _I don't care how big you are! I never back down!"_ Rather than get angry, Machamp unleashed a throaty laughed that bellowed across the field.

" _Now THAT'S what I like to see!"_ he patted her on the back, not hard enough to hurt her but enough to get his original point across, as a contemplative look crossed his face. " _Still, this isn't a challenge for me, and it isn't fair to you. Plus, I_ really _don't like her, so I'm not going to listen to her."_

" _So…you're giving up?_ " Brennaraki looked both relieved and disappointed, which turned into confusion as he slowly shook his head.

" _No, where's the fun in that?"_ Machamp smirked. " _And besides, I ain't a quitter either. No, I have a much better idea. I'm going to throw the match, and you're going to help me."_

 _"…how?"_ Brennaraki was now thoroughly confused but at the same time intrigued.

" _You ever watch PWE?_ "

* * *

"Saito?" Louise asked, her mind failing to comprehend what she was seeing. For the past ten minutes, Brennaraki and Machamp had been doing something indescribable to the rosecrown, and at this point they had attracted quite the following as more and more bystanders came by to watch and cheer the two Pokémon on.

"Yes, Louise?" Saito stifled back his laughter, fully comprehending what was transpiring in front of him.

"What in the Founder's name am I looking at?"

"Something glorious, Louise. Something glorious." Saito declared as Brennaraki launched herself off Machamp's raised foot like a platform to deliver an approximation of an elbow drop on the large Pokémon.

With exaggerated movements, Machamp cried out in faux pain and hurled his body upwards from the 'impact'. Not missing a beat, Brennaraki grabbed his massive leg with her tiny mouth and began to heave. Twirling him around in a circle, with subtle assistance from the Machamp, Brennaraki hurled him across the field. 'Skidding' to a halt in front of a seething Elizabeth, Machamp quickly got up and charged at Brennaraki, who charged towards him as well. He reached to grab her with his four arms, only for her to slide under them and in between his legs while grabbing one of the fingers. Machamp then flipped himself onto his back and rolled around in 'pain' while Brennaraki turned around and ran back to his prone form. She began to kick him in the stomach, each 'blow' causing him to flinch. Having enough, Brennaraki flipped him over, again with subtle assistance, and climbed on top of his back. Grabbing his leg, she began to heave, causing Machamp to slam his fists on the ground in 'agony' until Brennaraki stopped. Rushing over to his head and shoulders, Brennaraki wrapped her body around them in an approximation of a full nelson and began to force the larger Pokémon to submit. As she did this, a large shadow then appeared as Gengar made himself known as he knelt down and started an approximation of a countdown. Machamp attempted to free himself, but as Gengar counted down to ten he went slack and conceded.

"Machamp, ha-ha, Machamp has conceded, ha-ha!" Saito barely managed to get out through his laughs as Brennaraki stood triumphant on top of her defeated foe. Before anyone could react further, Gengar grabbed Brennaraki's paw and hoisted it upwards as if he were announcing a new champion, an action that caused Saito's will to finally break.

"Brennaraki is the winner! Hahaha! Arceus, I can't breathe!" He doubled over and clutched his stomach as he began to laugh profusely. The other's in the stand did so as well, along with many hoots and cheers.

Elizabeth screamed in rage before quickly returning the Machamp and running out of the practice arena, tears running down her face, as her anger granted her the strength to bash the spectators out of her way. The Gengar, seeing his owner flee the scene, turned and bowed to his audience before floating after her, the laughter of the spectators all echoing all around.

"I don't understand anything about what just happened," Louise admitted as the crowd began to disperse and Saito, still chuckling, walked up to her.

"I'll explain in the lab. Come on," Saito chuckled one last time before walking away. Louise, still confused, followed him, while a victorious feeling Brennaraki pranced after them, imaginary thoughts of a belt filling her mind.

* * *

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest episode of Outsiders! Louise has had her first official 'rematch', if you could call it that, with Elizabeth, and a rivalry is set in motion. Also, writing Machamp was an absolute blast and I hope you all liked him.

Now, before we begin, I want to address the scaring. The addition of it was actually of considerable debate between all of us. Some were convinced that including it would make Saito and Louise out to look like assholes, while others thought it would serve as good character development for Elizabeth. In the end, we decided that the character development that could come from this was worth it and worked on a way to not make our heroes look like jerks.

Now for the Q&A:

 **ian25rebel** : To be fair, the Ralts evolution comes directly from gender. Only males can evolve into Gallade, for instance. Ultimately, its why we chose it. I am curious as to what you think the theme is, but I will not be confirming it until all team captures are made. Also, yes. The teams are already set in stone and are not subject to change nor request.

 **Pacer287** : Maindo, Saito's Ralts, is a complicated figure. He does, however, come in part from Saito's more negative aspects of his canon personality and motivation. We will be exploring him more in the future. And I do not blame you for not liking Canon!Saito. Frankly, he was not a likable protagonist in FoZ/ZnT canon and extremely bland. I do hope that you are enjoying our version at least.

 **MBenz4268** : I'm glad you enjoyed the Alain and Mairin cameos. Expect more cameos of those nature in the future, wherever appropriate. Also, yes. The Elite Four do challenge the current champion every so often. Its how Lance got his current position as champion of the shared Kanto/Johto Pokémon League.

 **Avro 683 Lancaster** : We will not be taking suggestions for Louise or Saito's Pokémon. As previously stated, their teams are set.

That concludes today's chapter. I hope you all enjoyed and see you all tomorrow!


	20. Season 1, Episode 5, Chapter 5

**Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)**

 **Season 1, Episode 5, Chapter 5**

[~][~]

Despite having lost her in the crowd, it really wasn't that hard for Gengar to track down Elizabeth. After all, she wasn't very subtle when she was in one of those moods. He eventually found her in an alley some distance from the arena where she had participated in that disastrous battle, and her mood had obviously deteriorated since then. Such a suspicion was only confirmed when Gengar made his entrance.

Elizabeth had her back to him, so he kicked one of the overturned and badly dented trashcans that were strewn about the alley. She reacted instantly, grabbing a nearby lid off of an overturned trashcan and hurling it towards the noise. Gengar lunged to the right, the lid bouncing off the wall with a loud clang a second later, followed swiftly by a grunt of exertion and the sound of breaking ceramics. He looked up to see Elizabeth's face mere inches from his own. Her makeup was completely gone, and she had torn the bandage off her face at some point, so the blood dripped down her face unhindered to mingle with the tears pouring from her eyes.

Seeing that, apart from the occasional sobs that wracked her body, she wasn't moving, Gengar hesitantly took a few steps to his right, then quickly sped up when he felt something brush his ear. Once he felt that he was a safe distance away, Gengar turned to see what he had felt, and his eyes widened. Elizabeth was hunched over slightly, and was holding a half-broken pipe in a left-handed grip. While such a strike wouldn't have done anything more than inconvenience Gengar, since he lacked a corporeal body, he could tell that Elizabeth had put enough force behind it to cause serious harm.

 _"I might not like her,"_ he muttered pensively, _"but this whole situation's a powder keg, and I'd rather it not end as badly as that time I thought it'd be fun to mess around with that bust of Xerneas."_ Lost in thought as he was, Gengar almost missed Elizabeth turning to face him.

"I-I'm n-ot re-ally s-su-re w-whe-th-er I'm-m s-sup-pos-ed t-to be hap-py o-or a-ang-ry th-th-at you c-came b-ack," she choked out between sobs, "B-but I am r-real-ly g-gl-ad that you w-were the f-fir-st one to fi-nd m-me."

Gengar blinked in surprise, he hadn't expected this to happen.

"Y-yo-u're wo-wond-ering why-y?" She continued, "I-if so-meo-ne e-else h-had c-ome a-alo-ng, w-well, I c-can j-jus-t im-imagi-ne t-the he-adli-nes n-now: _'R-rich Poke-mon Coll-ec-tor as-sau-lts b-bystan-der af-ter humiliati-ng defe-at.'_ I b-et the l-little ro-se an-d her t-ag along wou-ld get a kick out of that."

She laughed bitterly, then collapsed against the wall. "They'd probably feel vindicated, as well. _'Oh, look! Elizabeth Colette is nothing but a spoiled little brat who stoops to theft, threats, and violence the second things don't go her way! Just like I always told you, Saito!'_ They probably aren't even wrong. And look at me now! Crying in an alleyway after attacking you!"

Elizabeth turned her head towards her feet, away from a very confused Gengar, "You can go. Just leave me here, I'll make my way home by myself, then I'll probably just set my collection free. It's not like I've lost everyone and everything else." Memories immediately came up in Elizabeth's depressed mind, but she quickly repressed them with a shudder.

Gengar was stunned and didn't move at first, but Elizabeth's next words, a scream for him to leave her alone, galvanized him into action: a leisurely walk out of the alley. While he started slow, he gradually sped up as the implications of what he had just been told spurred him onwards. He was free! Free to run! Free to jump! Free to prank whomever he wanted to! Why, he'd never have to listen to—

 _"Hey! Hey, mister!"_ Gengar screeched to a halt as a small black and red fox jumped in his path. A quick look told him it was a Zorua, a young female specimen by the size and voice. Before he could move forward again, the Zorua moved back in front of him, trying to prevent him from leaving.

 _"Yeah, mister! You can't go!"_ the Zorua yipped.

 _"Eh? Why?"_ Gengar grunted back.

 _"Well, she's talking like a noose-guy. You can't leave her alone!"_

Gengar picked up the tricky fox by the scruff of her neck, _"And just who is the noose guy?"_

 _"Well, you know the story about this alley. Don't ya, mister?"_

 _"Assume I don't."_

"Well,"

Zorua yipped, _"A long time ago, a man confessed to his girlfriend here, but even though he poured out his heart and soul, she rejected him out of hand. He had already sacrificed almost everything else for her, so he strung himself up from that fire escape over there, believing that he had nothing else to live for. Ever since then, anyone who comes down here, bawling their eyes out and bearing their heart and soul to the world, well, the next day they tie a rope around their neck and jump off the highest point that they can find. And what do you think Elizabeth is going to do after she sets her collection free?"_

Gengar suddenly dropped the Zorua with a yelp and started counting off on his hand. " _Leg's see, eat a tub of ice cream, go out and buy a new pair of shoes, watch crappy soap operas on the TV, take that Eevee of hers to the groomers, marinate in the bathtub for a few hours-"_

"I'm serious!" Zorua yelled out in frustration. _"Cross my heart and hope to– Err, poor choice of words."_

Gengar raised an invisible eyebrow and gave an all too wide smile at the now fidgeting fox.

" _Hey, kid. Why did you tell me that?"_

"Well, living where I do, I hear confessions like hers two or three times a week on average,"

she replied, _"And, listening to her, for the very first time, I actually felt like I gave a damn about someone who decided to use my home as a place to vent their frustrations or pour out their woes where they think there's nobody to hear, and, well, she reminds me of myself in some ways."_ Gengar narrowed his eyes at the Zorua. Something about the way she said it didn't seem right.

" _You know, I've lived in this city for a very long time,_ " Gengar began, facing the Zorua, " _and I've never even heard of this alleyway being a noose-spot. Would have thought someone would hang a sign up if it happens that often."_

" _Oh, well...you know. It's really only known around here and it doesn't happen too often…_ " Zorua looked away, causing Gengar to start chuckling.

" _You need to work on your lying, kid, but I give you a solid A for effort on it,_ " he declared, causing the Zorua to look aghast and bring her paw up to her chest.

" _Who, me? Why would I lie to you?"_ Zorua defended herself while Gengar simply crossed his arms.

" _Well if I had to guess, you need me to help you in some way, probably to talk to her directly, and since you do not want to reveal why you want to help her, you created a horror story in an attempt to garner sympathy from me so I would help without question._ " Gengar nodded as the Zorua started kicking at the dirt. " _You're going need to bring your A material if you want to get the leg up on me,"_ Gengar brought his hand up to his chin in thought. _"Still, it sounds like a fun way to give her my own send-off... Alright, I'll help!"_

 _"Great!"_ Zorua happily yipped, causing Gengar to smile. The two made their way back to Elizabeth, who hadn't moved an inch since they'd left, though she seemed to have stopped crying. Hearing the two approach, Elizabeth lifted her head, but dropped it again when she saw who it was.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone," she mumbled through her knees. Gengar looked her, and began to think on how to talk to her. A thought quickly came to mind, and with a snap of his fingers stared at Elizabeth intensely. Before she could yell at him to leave, a swirl of psychic energy came out from his mind and entered into her mind, putting her to a deep sleep. Gengar then turned to look at the expectant Zorua, a third eye now emblazoned on his forehead, and she too fell asleep.

" _Time to get to work_ ," Gengar rubbed his hands together before his mind entered the shared dream both of them shared.

* * *

"I did that?" Saito numbly asked, sitting on the couch. Once Louise informed him of just what exactly had transpired, his jubilant mood from before evaporated instantly. When Louise solemnly nodded, he could only look down in shame. "I didn't mean too…"

"We know," Sycamore replied, giving Saito a hot cup of hot cocoa, along with another for Louise. "By all accounts, you were justifiably angry at being used like that, but the fact remains Saito that you could have seriously injured her. You're lucky that you didn't, and what's done is done."

"She promised not to press charges if I battled her," Louise pointed out, "and I at least trust her not to do that. Especially after how the battle went." A ghost of a smile entered both of the teenagers faces, only for it to go away as the seriousness of the situation came back in.

"Still, I feel like I should do something. Go find her and apologize at least," Saito pointed out, guilt filling his voice.

"That's all well and good," Sycamore began, "But from what I know of her, Elizabeth is not in an agreeable state of mind right now, and going after her in an attempt to apologize would makes things worse. My suggestion is to let things die down a bit, then go apologize once you return to Lumiose."

"I…okay," Saito relented and sighed. Seeing this, Sycamore rubbed the back of his head and searched for a way to change the subject to a more pleasant one.

"So…," he began, drawing the two teenager's attentions, "what are you two's next steps?"

"Um, what do you mean?" Louise asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I mean, where are you two going next? You are still planning on doing the Gym Challenge, right?" Sycamore clarified.

"Oh, that's what you…," Louise stopped and hummed to herself. "I think… I think I'm going to Cyllage City. Supposedly, it's easier to get there than the other cities."

"And, judging by the map," Saito pointed out with his Pokédex extended, "you can then circle around to the Shalour, Coumarine, and finally the Lumiose Gyms all in one trip."

"Well, that settles it. I'm going to Cyllage City," Louise nodded while Saito remained silent.

"What about you, Saito? Where are you planning on going next?" Sycamore asked, causing the boy to look up at him.

"Well I…," Saito thought for a moment, looking between Sycamore and Louise. After a few moments, Louise rolled her eyes.

"Oh for," she began. "Just come with me."

"What?"

"Just travel with me," Louise repeated herself. Saito looked at her in surprise, while Sycamore merely smiled. "You said it yourself. Going to Cyllage makes a lot of sense, and as I'm already going there and we've been travelling together already. Despite how things started out, things have been…nice." Saito simply stared at Louise's confession, who looked away in embarrassment.

"Oh, um… Thank you. I…appreciate the offer," Saito rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, you should," Louise got out, her eyes closed and head turned to the side. "To travel with a noble such as myself is a huge honor, and I don't just give it out to anyone." Saito laughed and shook his head at Louise's antics.

"Thank you, really," Saito smiled. "I'd be happy to." Louise smiled brightly at Saito's answer, causing Sycamore to smile as well..

"Well, now that you two got a plan, I think it's time for all of us to get some shut eye," Sycamore yawned and stretched his arms. "Saito, I'll show you to your room. This way, please."

"Thank you, Professor," Saito got up and yawned as well, the tiredness coming in full force. As the two men left, Louise got up and went to her room as well. She had a big day ahead of her, after all, but more sleep wouldn't hurt.

* * *

"Oogh," Elizabeth groaned as she laid sprawled on the floor. Opening her eyes, she saw herself surrounded by a black and purple void. She bolted to her feet in fright, her hands instinctively tightening around hilts that weren't there. "Where am I!?"

"In your mind," a shadowy voice rang out over the void, startling her. Her arms nearly shot up to shield her face, but she suppressed that instinct, fearing that she'd see them wrapped in those violet tassels once more. "Have to admit, not quite what I was expecting. Thought it be a bit more…flashy, to be honest, although it's about as empty as I thought."

"Who's there!? Show yourself!" Elizabeth demanded as she got back to her feet. A dark laugh soon followed as a shadow began to coalesce into a amorphous form. Soon enough, a Gengar showed itself, a dark smile emblazoned on its face.

"Surprised?" Gengar asked with a confident smirk. Elizabeth started to hyperventilate, initially seeing Gengar as something else. Picking up on that, Gengar stepped back, his hands upraised. "Relax, it's just me." Slowly, Elizabeth forced herself to calm down, and began to take stock of what was occurring.

"…So," Elizabeth looked back at Gengar, now recognizing it for what it was, "you can talk."

"No, not really. I put you under hypnosis so that I can psychically communicate with you. Easier this way, and here I can do whatever I want. Such as impressions."

"You can do impressions?" Elizabeth quickly asked, unable to stop herself in time causing Gengar to sigh and slap his face.

"Look, I would love to play twenty questions with you, but I don't actually want to. Suffice to say that I can," he said in her Butler, Pierre's, voice, before switching back to the one he had been using. "But I came back to tell you this: This pity party of yours? Stop it, its beneath you."

"…You're just saying that," she brushed him off dejectedly. "This could all just be an elaborate prank."

"Eh, mostly, but tell me. What made you choose your team today?"

"What do you mean?" she looked up, confused. "I just picked the strongest ones most likely to crush whatever team Louise managed to put together."

"Yeah. Sharpedo, Machamp, Eevee, Aggron, Florges, and myself. One of these things is not like the other. Well, other than talking a fish to a land battle. Genius move, by the way. Truly inspired choice." Gengar began to slowly clap and gave her a taunting smile.

Elizabeth huffed at the smiling Gengar and bit her tongue. "If you think that there's some deeper meaning behind my choices, then tell me."

"Thought you'd see it my way," Gengar smirked at how the conversation was finally on track. "Anyways, Eevee was the first Pokémon you got, so even if she's acting a little weird, she's the type to run away if she truly hated you, so you've got that going for you. As for Sharpedo, remember, you and Eevee saved him when he was just a Carvanha. And Machamp? He probably would have fought if his opponent wasn't a Fennekin, and even then he respected you enough to lose without making you look incompetent, assuming that you were training him for a PWE match." Gengar listed off confidently, "Need I continue?"

"You don't," Elizabeth sighed, "And yet I have done everything for them and they still won't listen to me."

"And yet she wants to talk with you," with a snap of his fingers, another form coalesced, this time into a red and black fox. Elizabeth recognized this Pokémon immediately.

"A Zorua? What's a Zorua doing here?" She asked as the black and red Pokémon nuzzled at verdette's hand.

"Honestly, I don't really know. She just wouldn't let me leave you there and- What are you doing?" While Gengar was talking, Zorua had walked a distance away from her, and, with a flash of light, transformed into Louise.

"What!" Elizabeth shouted, "How do you know her?" Zorua responded with a few yips, and it certainly was strange to hear such a sound coming from the Little Rose's lips.

"Wait, why can't I understand her?" she turned her head to look at Gengar, who merely shrugged.

"Miracle Eye can only do so much." Elizabeth contemplated Gengars words before nodding in understanding. As 'Louise' yipped again, the girl looked back up at Gengar.

"What did she say?"

"She said that she met Louise when she fell out of a 'bright place' into her alley. She screamed something about a goat, then got freaked out when Zorua jumped out of a can. Wait, what do you mean by a bright hole?" Gengar stared at the Zorua with a questioning gaze, who merely shrugged. The two looked at Elizabeth, who looked just as confused as they were.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Elizabeth answered, causing Gengar to shrug. Zorua then yipped a few more times, catching his attention.

"Wait, really?" He asked in a great deal of shock.

"What did she say?" Elizabeth got to her feet, brushing off some dust.

"She said that she'd be up for traveling with you," Gengar answered after a moment, a great deal of confusion still seeping in.

"What?!" Elizabeth shouted while Gengar cupped the area where his chin would be and hummed.

"Actually," Gengar began to point out, "It's not an awful idea. Louise and her boyfriend are probably going to ship out in a few days, and I'm sure you still want a proper rematch."

"Well, yeah," Elizabeth stated as if it was obvious.

"You're probably not going to get it just hanging around Lumiose. At this point, your best bet is to get some supplies together and set off after them. Some of your Pokémon have to be interested in going on an adventure, even if it only lasts for a week. Who knows, you may even make a new one." At Gengar's words, Elizabeth cupped her chin in thought for a few moments before she started giggling.

" _Keehee!_ That's a great idea!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "I'll go out, beat her, and show the world that no one makes a fool out of me!"

"Well, it's nice to hear you so determined, Princess" Gengar chuckled. As Elizabeth continued to mutter half-baked plans, Gengar's eyes glowed once again, and suddenly Elizabeth and Zorua found themselves alone in the alleyway, Gengar nowhere to be seen.

"He actually left," Elizabeth sounded dejected, causing Zorua to walk up to her and nuzzle her hand for real this time.

"Thanks," Elizabeth replied, "Now, could you grab the roll of bandages in my bag?" Zorua did as she was asked, and Elizabeth applied the bandages with the ease and swiftness of someone who'd done it a thousand times. Picking up her bag from where it lay on the ground, Elizabeth walked towards the street.

"I have to go back to the mansion to get some stuff together and make some plans, but in two weeks we're off on an adventure!" She shouted for all the world to hear. As she began walking, Zorua briefly looked back at the alley, giddy at the prospect of finally leaving this place. They didn't get very far though, as Elizabeth suddenly stopped. Zorua looked and looked up at Elizabeth, only to see her crying. The fox yipped in concern, only for Elizabeth to brush it off.

"I'm fine, don't worry. Just…" Elizabeth went silent for a moment, "happy." The verdette began walking again, a newfound goal to strive for. One of victory over Louise, no matter what it took.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Sorry for not posting yesterday. By the time I got around to it, I was tired. My bad. But, in other news, we are only three chapters away from being caught up to the Spacebattles version!

Elizabeth has now officially become Louise's rival, and Saito and Louise have officially decided to travel together, not this quasi-permanent thing that had been going on.

Now onto Q&A:

 **Celestia's Paladin** : Yep, there is a PWE, Pokémon World Wrestling, organization on Earth, and Machamp and Saito are big fans. Us writing that kayfabe was glorious to us.

 **PokemonFan93** : Its another example of the growth that Louise is going through and how her journey is growing her for the better. Plus it furthers Espirit's role as the voice of reason of the group. The Team Mom, if you will. Us making Saito more sympathetic was also something that we wanted to do. We hated the harem elements of ZnT canon, felt it took away from the enjoyment of the story. So by removing it, and changing Saito somewhat to where he is recognizable yet more sympathetic, we felt it would enhance the story. I'm glad to see our efforts pay off. And yes, Machamp was the best, wasn't he?

 **Avro 683 Lancaster** : Again, Louise is bias due to her personal experiences. It doesn't mean she is 100% right, which is something that Saito picked up on when he said that the collector she lambasted did not deserve what she said to him. And your analysis of Elizabeth as of right now is spot on. She doesn't know much about her Pokémon. In fact, all of her Pokémon were, as she indicated, not even trained by her. No wonder they don't respect her. And no, we are not accepting OC's.

Well that's it for this chapter. Stay tuned for the next chapter of Outsiders! Once we are caught up in a few days, we will be transferring to a weekly update schedule, so be ready for that.


	21. Season 1, Episode 6, Chapter 1

**Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)**  
 **Season 1, Episode 6, Chapter 1**

[~][~]

"Thanks once again for letting me stay, Professor," Saito smiled towards Sycamore outside of the Versant Gate. It was early in the morning, though thankfully not at the crack of dawn like Louise had been making them do lately. He figured she must have learned the value of good sleep.

"It's not problem, Saito," Sycamore nodded. "You are always welcome here. Now, do you two know exactly what your plan is?"

"Of course," Louise began, her backpack filled to the brim, only in a more manageable state. "It should take about a week to travel down Versant Road and reach Camphrier Town, assuming there are no delays. Saito and I discussed it—"

"You insisted, and I eventually relented," Saito butted in, only to be silenced by a glare.

"As I was saying, before we head out for Cyllage, we are going to stop by Parfum Palace."

"Curious as to how nobility here compares to back home?" Sycamore smiled, causing Louise to smile back and nodded. Saito, on the other hand, remained silent and deep in denial.

"Come on, Louise. We best get going," Saito insisted while adjusting his backpack. "Once noon hits, we aren't going to make much progress." Louise moved to protest but, realizing he was right, sighed and nodded.

"Take care, you two," Sycamore bid them farewell. Louise turned away and walked a few steps, only to pause, turn around, and quickly give the professor a quick hug before quickly walking back. Sycamore smiled to himself before waving them off. The two teenagers waved back before walking away. As they disappeared, Sycamore put his hands in his coat pockets and walked back into Lumiose. He still had work to do.

* * *

"Still messing with that new Pokédex?" Saito asked as he and Louise sat beneath a tree. He was right, once the noon sun rose above them their progress slowed to a standstill. Weighed down by the heat and sweat, they had no choice but to take a water break underneath a large tree. Wiping away a sheen of sweat, Saito took a gulp of water before going back to making their lunch.

"Yes," Louise nodded, her eyes never leaving her new Pokédex. Unlike the last one, this model was much smaller. Rectangular and solid, it was encased in a thick body of pink plastic, with two buttons on the right side and a d-pad on the other. The top corners of the device held additional buttons as well.

"I can see that," Saito chuckled as he finished up the sandwiches. Holding one out to Louise, she set the Pokédex down and began eating, following his lead. "So, I'm curious. What exactly is so different about that Pokédex than the one before?"

"Besides being easier to handle?" Louise asked. Taking Saito's smile as an answer, Louise continued. "Mostly just minor improvements, really. Smaller, more compact. Runs faster, too. But, now I got an actual phone and a training guide."

"Guide? What does that mean?"

"It means that the Pokédex can tell me what my Pokémon's strengths and weaknesses are and what moves they can learn. That way, I can better plan out their training regime. Granted, it's more of a species wide guide, but still."

"Ah, I see," Saito nodded and finished up his sandwich. "I don't think mine has that option."

"Professor Sycamore said it was a new feature and that mine is a prototype he'd been working on."

"So that's why he didn't offer me one?" Saito gazed upwards in realization. Louise looked at him in confusion, but he waved her off. "Nah, I'm not mad. Besides, I'm fine with the one I have now." Saito stood up and dusted himself off. "Now, want to put that training guide to use?"

"Heh, read my mind," Louise smiled and stood up as well. "Train for an hour or two then head on out?"

* * *

In the hour that followed, Louise and Saito both gained a new appreciation for the Pokedex's training guide. What before would have taken them three hours to do was now cut down significantly. Turns out being able to more easily spot a Pokémon's natural strengths and weaknesses was a real blessing. Coupled with their natural tendency to spot flaws in their Pokémon's performance, suffice to say that the two were please with their training session.

All the Pokémon were getting some work done. Aile continued to practice her dodging at high speeds while Brennaraki practiced her aim on fast moving targets. The grace she showed was as impeccable as ever but dodging and turning were still difficult for the Fletchling while Brennaraki had trouble aiming ahead, tending to aim where the bird was. Espirit, meanwhile, practiced by psychically lifting rocks and stacking them on top of each other in midair, not to mention using Heal Pulse on any injuries. The Ralts seemed to take a shine to that aspect, something that Louise noticed and decided to focus on.

Saito's Pokémon stayed within their group. Tanuki and Ronin originally spared together while Maindo remained on his lonesome. That changed with Saito tried to get him to train with the others, to which he responded by hurling a rock towards the other two Pokémon. They responded by throwing themselves at the laughing Ralts, turning the spar into a two on one brawl. To his credit, Maindo performed extremely well and seeing he was finally interacting with the others, Saito allowed it.

' _Wish he would get along with the others, though,_ ' he sighed as he watched over the battle, taking in Maindo's fighting style as he and the other Pokémon fought. He seemed to be almost like a guerilla fighter. Rather than go for big, fancy moves like Tanuki or precise blade and water attacks like Ronin, Maindo seemed to be of the mind to harass his opponents repeatedly. Any time they got close to him, it usually turned out to be an illusion and he would insult them, which in term made them mad and attack him again. He'd then use their enraged and unfocused state to hit them with a few attacks, usually by hurling them into one another, only to teleport away once they got close. To be honest, it was rather brilliant, but every so often he'd get too caught up in the insults and get hit as a result, and although he could hit hard, his ability to take a hit was not so high.

After Ronin managed to finally hit Maindo with an Air Slash, Saito decided to call it. "Alright, that's enough," he announced. The three Pokémon all looked at him then each other before complying, but not without a grumble. "Ronin, Tanuki, you two need to work on managing your emotions. You often let your anger get the better of you, which Maindo here exploited." The two Pokémon glared at the smug Ralts, but a cough from Saito redirected their attention. "Maindo, you need to let up on the insults while in combat. Harassing your opponent to make them angry is fine, brilliant even, but when you focused too much on the insults you allowed Tanuki and Ronin to get some hits in." Maindo glared at Saito while Tanuki and Ronin smirked. With a huff, and before Saito could get another word in, Maindo teleported away, still within eyesight. Sighing, Saito beckoned his Pokémon to follow him to Espirit, who quickly healed them. Maindo, rather than join them, merely glared all by himself while nursing his wounds. When Espirit saw this, he turned his head away, causing her to frown. After a moment, she took a deep breath and walked over to him.

' _You're hurt,_ ' she calmly stated, not showing any emotion. Maindo, rather than turn to face her, kept his back to her. Shaking her head, Espirit walked up to him and placed her hand on his back. He flinched at the contact, only to die down as a soothing glow enveloped him. After a few moments, the glow died down and Espirit stepped back. ' _You're welcome_.' With that, Espirit turned around and walked back to the others, leaving Maindo alone once again.

' _…Hmph_ ,' Maindo grunted and stood up. Dusting himself off, teleported onto a tree branch, careful to keep distant from the others, only for the branch snap and break underneath him. He landed with a thud, and as the other Pokémon laughed at him, he grumbled.

* * *

Their training session over, and with the air noticeably cooler than it was earlier, the two trainers set off once again. Having opted to walk around with only light amounts of Repel, they were accosted by a few wild Pokémon. Mostly Bunnelbys and Furfrous, although there was a Doduo that was apparently arguing with itself over something and a Gulpin who happily ate all the trash the pair had on them, but overall this leg of the trip was uneventful.

"How much further do you think we can go?" Louise asked, adjusting her backpack. Her shoulders were starting to feel sore and her legs were starting to burn, not to mention the sun would be going down soon.

"Probably another two hours. Otherwise we'd be walking at night, and I don't think either of us want that," Saito pointed out, his body much less tired than Louise's.

"Thank you." They continued in comfortable silence, neither having anything to say, only to suddenly stop as they heard some rustling.

"You hear that?" Saito slowly reached for his belt, Louise doing the same.

"I did." When the rustling was heard again, the two turned towards the source. It turned out to be coming from a large flowerbed surrounding a bush, and as the two slowly crept towards the sound, the rustling intensified. The two trainers hastily pulled out a Pokéball, preparing themselves for battle, only for two creatures to emerge. They were both mouse like, their bodies covered in cream fur, possessing colored spots on their cheeks and large colored ears, topped off with a small tail. They would have looked identical, were it not for one key difference. One was red, the other blue. Recognizing this as a new species and seeing how it was currently smiling and waving at them happily, the two trainers clipped their Pokéballs and Louise pulled out her Pokédex.

" _Plusle, the Cheering Pokémon. Native to the Hoenn region, Plusle's emit sparks through its hands to create pom-poms they use to cheer on their friends. They are closely related to the Minun species._ "

" _Minun, the Cheering Pokémon. Caring more about its teammates than itself, a Minun's electrical current can promote blood circulation. They are closely related to the Plusle species."_

As the Pokédex sounded off, Louise noticed a key icon on her screen.

"These aren't wild," she declared, stopping Saito from pulling a Pokéball out. As he leaned over to look at her Pokédex, she pointed to a Pokéball icon over the image. "Sycamore explained to me last night that this icon meant that the scanned Pokémon was currently owned. We can't catch them."

"Ah, man," Saito sighed. Getting over his disappointment quickly, Saito began looking around in search of their trainers. Not seeing them, he knelt to the two mice. "You two lost?"

The two Pokémon squeaked and shook their heads. "Where are they?" Louise knelt as well, concerned for their well-being. The Plusle and Minun giggled and pointed behind them. "They're over there?" They nodded her question and began to walk away. For a moment, Louise stayed there, contemplating her next action.

"… We're going with them, aren't we?"

"Obviously," Louise stood up and started after them. With an exasperates sigh, Saito followed. One of these days he'd get used to this.

The two trainers followed the Plusle and Minun into a nearby grove, one much less dense than Santalune. Not a single Pokémon attacked them, nor did they hear any. Idly, the two wondered as to why this was the case, only for them to start hearing the answer.

"What is that?" Louise wondered aloud as the noise got louder. Exiting the grove, she was greeted by a strange sight. Rather than more grass, flowers, or trees, like she had been expecting, they were instead greeted by concrete open-air enclosure, surrounded by a wire fence. Inside the enclosure were several ramps and metal bars. The strangest sight, however, were the people racing along those ramps and bars on bicycles and other…things she wasn't quite sure of.

"Oh wow, a skate park!" Saito gushed, inadvertently answering Louise's next question. "Didn't know Versant Road had one!"

"Only been open for a few months" a feminine voice replied. Turning their attention over, Louise and Saito saw two teenagers around their age, one male and the other female. Twins by the look of it, with both having identical blond hair and blue eyes. The girl was taller than the boy, and the two were both wearing yellow and black sports attire along with similarly colored helmets and pads.

"Oh, who might you—" Saito was cut off as the Plusle and Minun rushed passed him and leapt onto the athletes' legs, clutching them tightly. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that they're yours."

"They are," the boy nodded and kneeled. "Minun, you need to stop wandering off like that."

"The same goes for you, Plusle," the girl chastised lightly before smiling. "Thank you both for finding them. They like to wander off, sometimes."

"No problem at all," Louise nodded. "They seem like very kind Pokémon."

"They do like people," the girl chuckled. "Well, I'm Toni, this is my brother Hawk," the boy lightly waved and smiled. "We're regulars around here."

"I'm Saito, this is Louise," the two smiled.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Louise nodded, polite as ever.

"Same to you. Never seen you two around here before. First timers?"

"Just passing through on our way to Camphrier Town," Louise shook her head and Saito nodded.

"I see," Hawk cupped his chin and nodded. "You two gonna stick around for a bit? This is a public skate park, and we're always happy to see new faces." Saito broke out into an excited smile, only to be shot down by Louise' slow shaking of her head.

"Unfortunately, we can't. We have to get to Camphrier Town." Before Louise could continue, Saito frantically waved, drawing her irritated attention.

"Not right away," he protested. At this, Louise pulled him away from the twins, hoping to get some semblance for privacy.

"What are you doing?" she demanded to know.

"Louise, come on," he sighed and shook his head. "There's no real rush, and we're allowed to have some fun every now and then."

"I don't…" Louise started, but upon seeing his begging expression, looked down and sighed. "Okay, fine. We'll stay. But we're heading out first thing in the morning, got it?"

"That works for me," he happily nodded. As he began walking over to the skate park, he stopped once he noticed that Louise was standing in place, fidgeting to herself. After a moment of confusion, he smirked as he realized the cause of her predicament. "It's okay to be nervous."

"I'm not nervous!" Louise suddenly shouted, blushing from embarrassment while Saito merely smirked. This only served to make her angrier, much to Saito's amusement. With a huff, she turned her head and walked past him towards the rental area, leaving him and the slightly confused twins behind.

"…Is she always…?" Toni began, only to be waved off by Saito.

"Yeah, but she starts to grow on you over time."

* * *

Admittedly, it had been a few years since Saito had rollerbladed in any shape or form. Even then, he mostly stuck to the basics, preferring to just cruise around with a few minor tricks here and there. Still, knowing his limits, he had strapped on a pair of blue roller skates, pads and helmet, figuring it would easier than jumping onto a skateboard. After a few wipeouts, mostly in the first half hour, he was finally able to get a handle on things and was now confidently cruising like he did when he was younger. Wanting to let his Pokémon in on the fun, he had let them out earlier as well. Tanuki was again proving his skill, using Aura manipulation to reduce friction on his heels and skate around like a figure skater participating in the X-Games. Ronin, meanwhile, used his scalchop as a makeshift skateboard, mostly doing grinds and kickflips. Maindo, however, was sitting on the sidelines watching everyone else, occasionally calling out 'encouragement' to passersby while drinking a can of lemonade he somehow managed to find, causing Saito to sigh.

"What am I going to do with you," he silently mused before deciding to try and find Louise. "Wonder how she's doing?"

"Stupid things!" she shouted, answering his question. Silently chuckling, Saito turned to look at Louise, currently grasping hold of nearby wall to stay upright, only barely succeeding. Like him, she was decked out in pink roller skates, pads and helmet, but unlike him, she hadn't yet fully grasped exactly how to stay upright.

"Need some help over there?" Saito asked, rolling over to her.

"No!" she angrily shouted, frustration filling her. "I got this…" Defiantly, she let go of the wall and pushed herself forward, her arms out wide and body wobbling. After a few seconds of not falling over, she smugly smiled and put her hands on her hips.

"See?" she puffed out her chest, causing Saito to chuckle. With newfound confidence, she took a step forward, only for her foot to slip out from under her. "AHH!" she screamed and fell over, landing flat on her back. Groaning for but a moment, she turned red and began flailing in anger, causing Saito to laugh.

"This is your fault!" she accused, slowly pushing herself off the ground.

"How is this my fault?" Saito asked, more amused then anything.

"It just is!" Louise almost lost her balance, but Saito caught her before she could. "…thank you."

"No problem," Saito smiled. "My offer still stands."

"I told you, I don't need any help," Louise pushed away from him and slowly made her way to the edge. "You keep going. I'm done."

Saito frowned as she wobbled away. This was supposed to be fun for both of them. Deciding that something must be done, Saito skated over to Louise and took hold of her shoulders.

"What are you doing!?" she shouted in surprise.

"Helping you," he answered. "Relax. This is easy once you get used to it. Please, let me help."

"…fine," she huffed.

"Thank you. Now the trick is to slide your feet and shift your body as you move…"

* * *

"I'm doing it! Saito, I'm doing it!" Louise shouted with glee as she slowly glided across the ground. Saito, sitting down on a bench, smiled at her, happy she was finally having fun.

"See, I told you. It's easy." He gulped down some water and continued to watch her. In the end, it didn't take that long to teach her the basics, just another half hour. She still fell down every now and then, much more than he did at least, but at least she was finally having fun.

"Hey, she finally got it," Toni stated as she and her brother sat down next to Saito. "Always good to see people skating for the first time."

"Yeah," Saito smiled looking at the now descending sun. His smile turned into a frown as he realized they had lost track of time. "Drat, sun's going down. Louise, we got to go!"

"Oh, come on! I just got a hang of this!"

"You want to set up camp by moonlight?" Louise went silent at Saito's question before grumbling and skating over to him. Taking off her roller blades, pads, and helmet, she put back on her boots and walked away to return the equipment.

"Aw, you two leaving already?" Hawk asked, sounding slightly disappoint.

"Yeah, it's getting late and the sooner we set up camp, the better." Saito nodded and stood up as Louise walked back. "Well, it was nice meeting you two, but we got to get going." The two trainers nodded and began making their way out of the skate park, only for the two skater twins to stand up with them.

"Hey, before you guys go," Toni began, "you two are trainers, right?"

"Yes, actually," Louise answered and nodded. "We're actually on our way to Cyllage to challenge the Gym there."

"Oh, cool!" Hawk exclaimed, bringing his fists up to his chest. "Well, sis and I were talking about it, and have you two ever had a Tag Battle?"

"Tag Battle?" Louise wondered what that meant.

"It's when two trainers battle on the same team with one Pokémon each," Saito answered, understanding where this was going.

Toni smiled. "You guys up for one?"

Saito and Louise looked at each other, trying to read the other's thoughts. The Sun was going down, but they had at least another hour before dusk hit. Plus, this was a new experience for them both, one they were eager to try. The two silently nodded in mutual understanding and turned their heads back to the twins.

"We'd be happy to," Louise declared.

As it turned out, the skate park housed a battling arena as well, like the one surrounding Professor Sycamore's lab, albeit one with more of a sports theme to it.

"This will be a two on two match, elimination by knockout," Hawk yelled out from across the arena. An audience had already formed on the spectator stands, eager to see a battle and excitedly murmuring to themselves. "Have you two decided on your Pokémon?"

"We have," Louise took out a Luxury Ball, as did Saito. "Release at the same time?"

"Of course," Toni smiled as she and Hawk pulled Pokéballs of their own. The two groups stared silently at each other, sizing them up and attempting to ascertain their intentions. Then, as if some invisible signal was sent, they all sprang into action.

"Plusle! Minun!" the skater twins shouted out, releasing the Cheering Pokémon onto the arena.

"Espirit! Maindo" Louise and Saito shouted as well, releasing the two Ralts. Espirit was excited, eager to prove herself, while Maindo looked as disinterested as ever.

For Louise, it wasn't hard to chose Espirit. She had her for quite some time now, and after considerable training, both felt that the time was right for a trial run. Maindo, on the other hand, was harder for Saito to justify. He hadn't made any progress at all in getting him to listen, and Louise had threatened to replace Espirit with another Pokémon if he was chosen, but in the end they both decided that this might be an opportunity to get Maindo to finally listen.

"Please listen, for once," Saito quietly begged, but when Maindo rolled his eyes he sighed. Shaking his head, he readied himself for battle. "Alright then. Maindo, use Shadow Sneak!"

"Espirit, Misty Terrain!" Both trainers shouted their commands. Espirit concentrated until a pink glow surrounded her. The glow spread out and enveloped the arena in a pink, soothing mist. At the same time, Maindo's shadow began to move by itself, only to slightly jump up five feet away, no closer to his opponents.

 _'Dammit, Maindo! Take this seriously!_ ' Saito grit his teeth at the disobedient display while Louise and Espirit frowned. The twins, seeing an opening, jumped at the chance.

"Minun, use Thunder Wave on Maindo!"

"Plusle, Electro Ball on Espirit!"

Sparks began to emit from Plusle and Minun's electrical sacs, but while Minun's immediately discharged and arced towards Maindo, still standing still, Plusle's electrical energy swirled around his tail. Spinning around, the electricity coalesced into a sphere, one that hurtled towards Espirit.

Reacting immediately, Espirit jumped out of the way, only feeling a few tingles from isolated shocks. Maindo, however, remained unmoved. Rather than actively participate, he was instead checking his nails, or at least acting like he was.

"Maindo, move!" Saito shouted, which his Ralts ignored. As the electricity neared Maindo, however, it suddenly dissipated, leaving Maindo untouched.

"Wha?" Hawk looked confused while Maindo looked smug.

"Misty Terrain stops status conditions from happening," Louise pointed out. "Espirit, use Confusion!"

Taking the chance, Espirit concentrated on the still confused Minun, who suddenly recoiled and clutched his head from the psychic attack. Gritting his teeth, Minun shot out several glowing stars form her mouth towards Espirit. Attempting to dodge the attacks, Espirit bobbed and weaved past them, only for the dodged attacks to circle around and strike her anyway. With a pained grunt, she pushed herself off the ground and unleashed a Disarming Voice. The cuteness of her cry momentarily stunned the two as they flinched in pain.

"Maindo, help her out with Shadow Ball!" Saito ordered. With an audible sigh, Maindo created a small black orb, pulsating with sparks. It only got to the size of a golf ball before he flicked it out towards the dumbfounded mice who merely stepped aside and watched as the orb harmlessly passed by them and hit the ground. A small amount of dust poofed up, but otherwise nothing happened.

"Grrgh," Saito growled while Maindo laughed. Toni and Hawk looked at each other and smirked.

"Looks like he's not going to be a problem. Guys, focus on Espirit!" Louise's, Saito's, and Espirit's eyes all widened at the proclamation while Plusle and Minun smirked menacingly.

"Plusle, Charge Beam!"

"Minun, Helping Hand!"

Taking Plusle's hand, Minun began to spark as electrical energy flowed into Plusle. At the same time, Plusle sparked as well, the added electricity from Minun boosting hers. Sparks shot out wildly, scorching small amounts of the arena where they contacted, until finally Plusle concentrated the sparks into a single small orb. The orb then exploded into a thin line of electrical energy as it shot out towards Espirit, who was beginning to panic and was frozen in fear.

"Double Team!" Louise suddenly shouted out, breaking Espirit from her panic. She quickly split apart, forming several copies of herself. The Charge Beam speared one of the copies, dissipating it into a cloud of smoke. It impacted the arena wall, causing a nearby light to short out and explode from the electrical discharge.

"Is that going to be…?" Louise numbly pointed a shaking finger at the dead light, concerned for both her opponents and the powerful attack potentially hitting Espirit.

"Nah, happens all the time here," Toni waved her arms, not worried in the slightest. "Anyway… Plusle, keep going!"

At Toni's command, more Charge Beams shot out, each as powerful as the first. Creating more doppelgangers, Espirit spammed Double Team to avoid the blasts.

' _You got to fight back sometime, you know,_ ' Maindo helpfully pointed out as he idly watched the battle, not doing a thing.

' _Good idea. How about you show you me how?_ ' Espirit barked back as she continued to dodge. Minun at this point had let go of Plusle's hand and was now actively participating as well. Using Quick Attack, he sped towards Espirit and struck her on the side, throwing her to the ground. Seeing another Electro Ball forming, this time from Minun, she attempted to roll out of the way of the oncoming sphere, for her to be hurled away from the ensuring explosion. Flying through the air, she landed in a heap at Maindo's feet, an amused expression on his face.

' _Nah, you got this. You have 'em on the ropes!'_

 _'… This is why no one likes you._ ' Espirit dryly retorted.

' _I'll have you know that plenty of Pokémon like me,_ ' Maindo replied with a wicked smile. When they heard another crackle of electricity, Espirit paled and turned her head around. Seeing how Plusle was now holding Minun's hand, and with an extremely large Electro Ball forming on her tail, Espirit did the only thing she could think of. Splitting herself into multiple copies once again, the real her moved as far away from the attack as possible as it hurtled towards her former position at high speeds. Maindo barely had a moment to react before the ball struck him, sending him flying back into the arena wall hard enough to form a small crater. A dust cloud formed around him, obscuring him from view, as Saito and Louise looked on in worry.

"Maindo!" Saito screamed as he prepared to rush over to his Pokémon, only for the dust cloud to be violently pushed aside by a large Shadow Ball. It zoomed across the arena, striking a surprised Minun straight in the face and send her hurtling back. The combatants all looked towards Maindo, slowly marching forward, a dark aura enveloping him.

' _Okay,_ ' he calmly stated, masking the fury he was feeling rather poorly. ' _Now I'm pissed._ ' Before anyone could respond, Maindo teleported and reappeared at Plusle's face. He barely squeaked out in surprise before Maindo struck him with a point-blank Shadow Ball. Attempting to defend her partner, Minun attacked with Swift, only for Maindo to psychically lift Plusle and use him as a shield, blocking most of the attacks. One still got through, and with a pained grunt, he threw Plusle onto Minun.

Getting to his feet, Plusle sent out a Charge Beam, only for Maindo to teleport a few feet away. His shadow quickly moved across the ground on its own before stopping at Plusle's feet. A ghostly mass jumped out of it, delivering an uppercut and throwing Plusle upwards. At the top of his arc, Maindo grabbed him and slammed him into the ground. Minun attempted to get up as well, only to be struck by a Confusion launched by Espirit, who had finally decided to jump back into the fray.

' _Oh, look who finally decided to fight back_ ,' Maindo taunted, teleporting out of the way of another Charge Beam. Raising his hands, pale blue balls of ghostly fire formed before he threw them at Plusle, striking him in the chest and leaving a painful burn. He attempted to get up, but the burn, coupled with the earlier damage, prevented him from doing so, and he collapsed in a heap.

' _Hi, Weedle. Meet Caterpie!_ ' Espirit barked back as she used a Heal Pulse on her teammate. Attempting to blindside her, Minun sped forward with Quick Attack, only to be halted as Maindo psychically held him in place. He began to bombard the Cheering Pokémon's mind with Confusion, causing her to thrash in pain before Espirit finished her off with Disarming Voice.

' _Does it look like I care what you think?_ ' Maindo unceremoniously dropped Minun to the ground and walked away. Espirit frowned before using Heal Pulse on Minun. She thanked her before Espirit moved on to Plusle, performing the same action with him.

"Drat," Toni shook her head and sighed, disappointed in the outcome. "Congratulations, you two. Saito, man. That Ralts of yours is strong."

"He is, wish he listened more, though." Saito sighed. "Still, good job, Maindo." Maindo merely huffed in annoyance before plopping down, directing a vaguely rude gesture with his hands at him at the same time. Saito lightly frowned at his Pokémon's behavior, but otherwise did nothing. Louise, on the other hand, was having much greater luck with her Pokémon.

"You did so good!" Louise congratulated a bashful Espirit while giving her a deep hug. An idea briefly popped into Saito's head, but one surprisingly deep growl from Maindo squashed it.

"What am I going to do with you?" Saito sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

* * *

"It was nice meeting you two," Hawk stated as he and Saito shook hands. They were outside of the skate park now, with all the attendants filing out and heading off in assorted directions.

"Likewise," Saito nodded. "Will you two be doing the Gym challenge?"

"Nah, not our thing," Toni waved them off. "Good luck to you two, though. We're rooting for ya."

"Thank you," Louise smiled before turning away with a wave, Saito doing the same. As the two walked further and further away from the skate park, Toni and Hawk smiled to themselves and turned the other way, plopping down their skateboards, and began skating home.

"Always nice to see friends traveling together," Toni cooed and Hawk smiled.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Sorry for not updating yesterday. Things got hectic, my dog had to be taken to the vet, and things slipped my mind. Anyway, not much of major importance happened here, but I never believe in a wasted chapter. So, we got some needed characterization for everyone, including our favorite asshole, Maindo. Plus, we got our first Tag Battle, which is something that we wanted to try out.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **Fate** : Yes, Elizabeth was meant to be a foil to Louise, hence why she is her rival. I will admit, I do not like the overuse of OCs in stories, as most of the time they tend to be blatant Mary or Gary Stus that also serve as Self-Inserts. But there are cases where an OC would fill a story's role better than a canon character, and Elizabeth is a perfect example of this. All Pokémon journey stories need a good rival, and a good rival always, in some way, is a dark reflection of the hero. Case in point, the best rival we ever got in the Pokémon Anime, Paul. He was so good as a rival because he was the exact opposite of Ash in terms of training and outlook, and couldn't have his methods be dismissed because they actually worked for him. Elizabeth is indeed a dark reflection of Louise in terms of showing how she could have turned out. Louise very well could have turned into a spoiled brat who used her family's name to get whatever she wanted, but she didn't. You are also right that Elizabeth, especially at the beginning, represents the bad kind of nobility, while Louise represents the good kind.

 **PokemonFan93** : Yep, Louise here is a classical tsundere. Part of that is those sort of comments. And yes, that Zorua was indeed a foreshadow for Elizabeth's Pokémon. She does indeed have room to improve, and Pokémon, as with many people in this franchise, will serve as a catalyst. And yes, Espirit is the perfect voice of reason for them. Again, she is the Team Mom. She kind of has to be.

 **Ki Dalang Samezu** : Glad to hear it! I'm glad I was able to keep your interest! And yes, I loved writing Machamp. He's one of my favorites as well. And how Saito deals with Maindo will be a key part of both of their arcs.

Anyway, that is the latest chapter. Tomorrow we will be officially caught up, and then we move onto a weekly update schedule. Now, before I go, I want to send you off with a special treat by Catboy41. A "what if" omake. This is Non-Canon, by the way, but he enjoyed it and so did we and the post on Spacebattles.

[~][~]

 **Omake: Prepare for Trouble and Make it Double!**

"AHHHHHHH!" Several voices suddenly screamed, as a pile of two humans and four Pokémon collapsed in a heap in front of where Saito, Louise, and their Pokémon were eating lunch.

"Where did they come from!?" Saito gasped.

"Never mind that," Louise said, Esprit standing by her side and preparing a Heal Pulse. "Um, excuse me! Do you need help?"

"Huh?" As one, the people and Pokémon looked up. Louise and Saito pulled out their PokéDexes, curious.

 **"Meowth, the Scratch Cat Pokémon,"** Louise's PokéDex announced, showing an image of the cat-like Pokémon at the bottom of the pile. **"It can stand on two legs like a human, and enjoys collecting coins. It is known for it's signature move, Pay Day, which summons money to attack it's foes."**

 _'...It attacks it's foes with...money? Wait, if it can create money, how is the economy not broken?'_ Louise wondered.

 **"Wobbufett, the Patient Pokémon. Wobbuffet stands and endures any attack that comes it's way, but it will fiercely defend it's tail. It is incapable of performing any offensive attacks, but is capable of using both Mirror Coat and Counter to great effect,"** Saito's PokéDex explained, showing an image of the blue, blob-like Pokémon that was also in the pile.

The people and Pokémon then jumped out of the pile and stood straight up, allowing Louise and Saito to get a better look at the other two Pokémon - a strange doll-like Pokémon that looked like a fake Pikachu, and a purple Pokémon with blue tentacles growing from it's head.

 **"No Data,"** both of their PokéDexes announced, causing the trainers to glance at each other inshock.

"We don't need any help, this happens all the time!" A man with blue hair, clad in white clothing with a bright red 'R' on his shirt, explained. The R-symbol looked strangely familiar to Saito, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Say, where are we?" The Meowth - surprisingly - spoke up.

"A talking Pokémon!?" Louise and Saito gasped. Saito because he had never heard of such athing, and Louise because the last talking Pokémon she met was...Arceus.

 _'Is this Pokémon a...Legendary Pokémon!?'_ She thought in shock. Esprit, who had picked up on her thoughts, fell over laughing for some reason.

"Yes, yes, talking Meowth, big shock," the other human, a tall woman with long, red hair, wearing a feminine version of the man's outfit, scoffed. "Now answer the question."

"Um...you're on Route 5. Versant Road."

"In the Kalos Region!?" The talking members of the group gasped.

"How did we end up all the way here from Alola?" The blue-haired man wondered.

"That doesn't matter right now," the Meowth declared, pointing towards Brennaraki. "Look there! I spy, with my little eye...a Shiny Pokémon!"

"Ooh, the boss would give us big bucks if we brought him _that,"_ the woman said with a sinister grin.

"Riolu, Oshawott, and Ralts aren't very common Pokémon either," said the man, with a similar grin.

"What do you mean by that?" Louise demanded coldly. She and Saito both took a defensive step in front of their teams.

"'What do we mean?' You're about to find out!" The woman declared.

"Noble answers are what we're all about!" The man added.

"The beauty so radiant, the flowers and moon hide in shame! A single flower of evil in this fleeting world!" the woman struck a pose. "Jessie!"

"The nobly heroic man of our times! The master of darkness fighting back against a tragic world!" The man struck a pose. "It's James."

"A glittering dark star that always shines bright!" The Meowth said, posing along as well. "Dig it, while Meowth takes flight!"

"Team Rocket, let's fight!" The humans declared.

"That's right!" Meowth chimed in.

"Wo~bbuffet!" The Patient Pokémon finished. The humans and their Pokémon all looked proud at their performance, while Saito, Louise, and their Pokémon stared dumbfoundedly still.

"Uh...what?" Louise wondered, too stunned to do anything. Saito was in a similar situation, only for his eyes to widen in realization.

"Now I remember where I've seen that 'R' before!" Saito added. "These guys are Team Rocket, an organization from the Kanto Region who steal other people's Pokémon and sell them for profit!"

"That's right!" The Scratch Cat Pokémon said once again, spreading his arms and revealing sharp claws from within his paws. "And if you know what's good for you, you'll hand over all of _your_ Pokémon!"

The blue-tentacled Pokémon let out a hiss, while the Pikachu doll-Pokémon let out an eerie, screeching noise. Said screeching noise caused all the other Pokémon on both sides, even Maindo, to step back nervously.

"What? What did it say?" Saito asked.

"You _don't_ want to know," Meowth warned. Esprit nodded in agreement, relaying a similar message to Louise with her psychic powers.

"Now Mareanie, Spike Cannon!" James declared, as the blue Pokémon that must have been a Mareanie jumped in the air and unleashed a hail of spikes on on the gathered Pokémon.

Aile and Tanuki both leapt away, but the rain of spikes landed with surprising speed, hitting the ground and exploding before any of the others could move.

"Mimikyu, Wood Hammer!" Jessie called, as the doll-like Pokémon jumped up and smacked Aile out of the air with it's Wooden Tail, creating a dust cloud when she hit the ground. Tanuki charged towards Meowth with a Force Palm, but Wobbuffet got in the way, glowing with a multicolored, but mostly orange, light. The energy from Tanuki's Force Palm was redirected back towards him with twice the force, and he was sent flying backwards. Meowth, seeing his chance, ran forwards and unleashed a Fury Swipes on the dazed Fighting-type, who cringed and fell to the ground in a heap. As the dust from the various explosions cleared, all of Louise and Saito's other Pokémon were knocked out as well.

"All of them...just like that?" Saito gasped.

"With one attack...each..." Louise added.

"Well, what do you know! When the twerp's not here, stealing Pokémon is easy!" Jessie laughed.

"We'll take those Pokémon of yours now, if you'd please," James requested with faux politeness, as he and his cohorts walked menacingly towards the downed Mons.

"No...No!" Louise shouted, pulling out her wand. "NO!" Before she could do anything else, a high-pitched screech echoed through the air. One Team Rocket seemed to recognize.

"Don't tell me..."

"Kanto is one thing...but Kalos!?"

"Not now!"

Suddenly, the clouds in the sky parted, as a giant, plush-like bear Pokémon with a pink head descended from the sky in a ray of sunlight, flapping it's arms in some approximation of wings.

"What the hell?" Saito gasped. Louise and the rest of their Pokémon echoed the sentiment, not comprehending what was going on. The Rockets, however, did as they turned and ran, only for the large bear Pokémon to seemingly _warp_ in front of them, crush them in a bearhug, and then jump up into the sky.

"We're off with a new blast!" The Rocket's voices could be heard, as they and the bear became nothing more than a twinkle in the sky.

Saito could only stare, dumbfounded, while Louise quickly gathered up her fallen Pokémon, making sure they were alright.


	22. Season 1, Episode 6, Chapter 2

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Crossover)**

 **Season 1, Episode 6, Chapter 2**

* * *

It had been a few days since they had left the skate park, and much progress had been made. According to the PokéNav function on Louise's Pokédex, they were about a day away from Camphrier Town. Good progress, all things considered. That wasn't to say that there weren't delays.

"For the last time, I don't want a Magikarp," Saito glared at the man in front of him. He was rather short and getting on in years, wearing a white shirt, white headband, and yellow straw hat. The only remarkable feature about him was his stubby mustache. All in all, it made him look like a sleazeball, which he was more than happy to prove with each passing moment.

' _I should never had agreed to hear this man's sales pitch…,_ ' Louise cursed herself for her naiveite. The two trainers had stumbled across the man along the road carrying a large wicker basket on his back. Out of concern, they offered to help, but instead he revealed he was a travelling salesman and was offering passersby the business of a lifetime. One that would make them both rich within the month. Saito of course saw through it immediately, but before he could refuse, Louise agreed to hear him out. He swore he could almost see Pokédollar signs in her eyes. Before he could stop it, they were already being subjugated to a rehearsed spiel on how buying a Magikarp, one of if not the most prolific Pokémon species on the planet, would make them both rich.

"Please reconsider," he urged them, slime coating his every word. "Magikarps are a living gold mine! Each one can lay up to a thousand eggs in a single batch multiple times a year! You'd make back your investment in no time at all!"

"I have no interest in selling Magikarp," Louise plainly stated, her arms crossed and foot tapping in growing impatience. She had lost it some time ago, to be honest, but at this point the salesman wouldn't take no for an answer.

"You don't have to sell the Magikarp. I can see that you two are trainers, likely taking on the Gym Challenge?" he fished an answer, but received no answer, not even a nod. Rather than take that as a cue to leave, he took it as an answer in and of itself and carried on with his pitch. "Something tells me that you two have an eye for powerful Pokémon, and Magikarps are among the strongest there are."

"Only when they evolve into a Gyarados," Saito poked a hole in the man's pitch. "Until then, they are the weakest Pokémon in the world."

"And besides," Louise pointed out, "Magikarps need a body of water to do anything. Otherwise they just flop around helplessly. Do you honestly expect us to only stay next to a body of water?" The man said nothing, but Louise continued. "And even if we somehow managed to get the Magikarp to evolve, Gyaradoses are extremely aggressive and powerful. We wouldn't be able to control it. So please, tell me. What other reasons do you have for us to buy a Magikarp, a Pokémon we could easily get for ourselves if we so desired?" Louise and Saito pointedly stared at the fidgeting man, not expecting a satisfactory answer. With a huff, he turned around and stomped off, grumbling about a miss opportunity, likely his own.

"What a slimeball," Saito shook his head as the conman continued walking away. "… You know, I'm pretty sure that selling Pokémon without a license is illegal."

"It is," Louise nodded. Sycamore had been very clear about that. He even showed her what they looked like and how to ask to see them. It was one of the first things she asked to see, and what he showed her was not a legal permit.

"… You already called the police, didn't you?"

"They were listening the whole time."

* * *

"Hey, Saito?"

"Yes, Louise?"

"You ever get a…strange feeling in the back of your head? Like your being watched?"

"Hmm," Saito hummed, "every so often. But usually its just my mind playing tricks on me. Why?"

"… No reason," Louise glanced towards the forest one more time, never breaking her stride, that feeling never leaving.

Louise had felt something was off for the past few days now, even before they ran into the conman. Every so often, the hairs on the back of her neck would stand up and she'd get a chill running down her spine. She couldn't quite explain it, but something told her that they, she in particular, was being watched. By who or what, she couldn't figure that out. It frightened her a little, but what was most alarming was that as they got closer to Camphrier Town, the feeling got more and more intense. As if what once was a cursory glance was now staring intently at her.

"Louise, you look troubled," Saito stopped and looked at her in concern. "Is something wrong? You can tell me."

"I…," Louise sighed. "For the past few days, I've… I've felt like we're being watched. That _I'm_ being watched." Saito hummed in contemplation and took a closer look at the surroundings.

"When did it start?" he asked, eye's continuing to look for anything.

"A few days ago," Louise revealed. Saito's hand hovered over Tanuki's Pokéball, contemplating whether to release him. "It's been getting worse, though."

"Have you seen anything unusual?" he inquired, straining his eyes in an attempt to spot anything out of the ordinary, but finding nothing.

"Nothing," she shook her head. "I even had Espirit scan the area, but whatever it is, she couldn't pick it up."

"Well, if a psychic can't find anything then it's probably nothing. Still, I could send Tanuki out to make sure," Saito said as he pulled out the Pokéball in question, only to be politely waved off.

"Thank you, but no. Honestly, your probably right. My mind is just playing tricks on me. I appreciate the offer, though," Louise smiled, and he smiled back.

"No problem, Louise." The two started walking again in comfortable silence, Louise's nerves calmer now. The never noticed the small shape dart behind the trees, staring at Louise as she slowly disappeared through the trees.

* * *

The rest of the day went without incident, yet Louise never could quite shake the feeling she was being watched. At the very least, it finally seemed to be getting weaker. She guessed whatever it was finally lost interest and left. Now, as the sun began to set, and the two trainers finished setting up camp for the night, she decided to get some training in, as did Saito.

"Brennaraki, Aile, pincer on Tanuki!" Louise ordered. The two Pokémon sped towards their target, Aile disappearing in a Quick Attack and Brennaraki becoming a rolling ball of fire, coming in from opposite sides. The Riolu watched as the closed in, Aile coming in faster, but before she struck he ducked down, causing her to miss. She banked up, trying to avoid crashing into the ground, forcing Aile to jump away, never breaking her stride as she continued sprinting towards Tanuki. She struck, sending him back a bit but never off his feet. He grinned as he rushed towards her, palm glowing as he used Force Palm on her, sending her flying back. As she did, she was suddenly struck by a stream of water, courtesy of Ronin, sending her crashing into the ground. Water soaked deep into her fur, to the point where she was practically a mop, yet she quickly got up and shot out a Psywave at Ronin. He blocked it with his scalchop, only to be blindsided by Aile's Quick Attack.

"Nice one," Saito commented, already forming a counterattack. "Tanuki, Quick Attack! Ronin, Water Pulse!" Tanuki immediately sped away, zooming towards Aile and knocking her out of the sky, while a large orb of water formed in Ronin's outstretched hands. He then threw it at Brennaraki, who jumped out of the way yet was still hit by the subsequent explosion of water. It stung, but nothing serious. Tanuki and Aile, on the other hand, were proving exactly why punching a bird was so difficult, as Aile twisted and turned away from all the punches and kicks Tanuki threw at her. She managed to get a few quick Pecks in, but they were more of an annoyance. As she sped for another attack, Tanuki grabbed her and, using her momentum against her, threw her away. Before she crashed into the ground, she recovered and immediately used Quick Attack on the canine.

"Counter!" Saito yelled, causing Tanuki to smirk and Aile's eyes to widen. Unable to stop herself, she could only watch as a red glow enveloped him. As she struck, he winced in pain, but Aile was sent flying back with twice the energy. She crashed into the ground, knocked out cold, allowing Tanuki to take a sigh of relief. That did not last, as he was suddenly blindsided by a Psywave hitting the back of his head. He fell, unconscious, and Brennaraki quickly turned her attention back towards Ronin. Pulling out his scalchop, he used Air Slash to send slices of compressed air at her. She jumped of the way, only to be struck by another slice, Ronin having anticipated where she would jump. She fell to the ground and tried to push herself up, only to be struck by the scalchop directly, water racing off it as he used Razor Shell. This slammed her back onto the ground, and this time she didn't get back up.

"Drat," Louise grumbled as she walked over to her fallen Pokémon, already pulling out a few full restores. "Thought I had you that time."

"You were close," Saito admitted, gratefully taking the offered Full Restores from Louise's hand. He began administering the medicine, happy to see his Pokémon healing up quickly. As Brennaraki got to her feet, Ronin put his fist in his palm and bowed in respect, with Brennaraki bowing back. Both were smiling.

"Good job, guys." Louise smiled before turning her attention to her other Pokémon, her smile ceasing. She saw Espirit exactly as she had left her, over on the other side of the camp and using her psychic abilities on a large rock. She was trying to crush it, and to her credit a few hairline cracks appeared, but it didn't seem to be working out. Louise's smile left her face, and she began to walk over, only for Maindo teleport in, grab the rock, and silently crush it without much effort. She and Espirit looked at him in shock as he smiled and teleported away, and then Louise began to fume.

"Why that little…" She calmed herself, taking in a deep breath. He wasn't going to win this one. Ignoring Maindo, Louise continued walking over to Espirit and kneeled down. Espirit looked up at her, disappointment and frustration easily seen in her eyes, but Louise merely smiled back.

"Hey, its okay," she said, attempting to sooth her Pokémon. "You're getting better. In no time at all you'll be crushing that boulder. Okay? So no frowning. You can't let bullies get on top of you." She directed a pointed glare at Maindo, who simply smirked at her annoyed look. A series of images entered her mind, and Louise looked back down at Espirit, a sad smile on her face. "Yeah, I know how it feels. But you keep trying, and you'll get there. Never let anyone tell you different."

* * *

Eager to get to Camphrier Town, Louise and Saito had set off early in the morning. Not quite at dawn, but close to it. By the time they finally arrived, people were just now starting to open their doors and go to work. It also meant that the Poke-Mart wasn't ready for business, but given how the Pokémon Center was open twenty-four hours a day, it wasn't much of an issue.

"I'm still weirded out by that family," Louise shook her head as they walked out of the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy waving goodbye. Saito patted her shoulder before stopping at the Poke-Mart. She prepared to step forward, only for Saito to cough and hold out his hand. Slowly and reluctantly, Louise gave Saito her credit card, who smiled as he took it and walked inside.

"I'm not bad with money. He's bad with money…" Louise grumbled to herself. Before the two of them had first set off from Lumiose to Camphrier, they had decided to set some ground rules between them. Nothing formal, like a contract, but more of what they could and could not share. Things like food, clothing, sleeping supplies, and medicine. They had also decided that Saito would oversee the money, despite Louise's protests. Given how she was living off a hundred thousand Pokédollars, carried over from the Collette Family settlement, and that Sycamore had given her that money in the first place meant that by all rights he could decide who was in charge with it. Apparently, he hadn't forgotten Louise's shopping spree, and after Saito saw the aftereffects of that spree, he readily agreed with the professor, and so she got outvoted.

She was still grumbling when Saito emerged from the store, to which he merely chuckled and handed back the card.

"So," Saito began, "off to Parfum Palace like you wanted?" Louise stopped grumbling at his question, happy that he remembered his promise to take her there.

"Actually, there's a museum in town that I'd like to check out first, if you don't mind." Louise pointed to the museum in question. It was a large Romantic-style castle on a hill, surrounded by a moat, and visible from the entirety of Camphrier. "Shabboneau Castle. I think it would be interesting."

Saito gazed at the castle in question, cupping his chin, before nodding. "Sure, I don't see why not." Their plan set, the two began walking towards the castle. As they did, they came across an irritated man, dressed in blue with a red hat, talking to others at Palais Lane. They two paid him no heed, but they couldn't help but overhear him.

"I'm telling you, there's something out there. Something old, something powerful. It's got all the other Pokémon in Route 6 on edge," he said.

"Come on, Calem," a girl replied. "I'm sure you're just taking things out of proportion. Besides, the increased agitation of the Pokémon you're talking about? It happens all the time here. Now come on. Mom is expecting back home soon." The boy, Calem from what Saito and Louise could tell, moved to protest, only to stop and sigh. The brother and sister then left down Rivière Way, while Louise and Saito continued walking, the conversation already leaving their minds.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter to Outsiders! Another set up chapter, but things are coming forward now.

In other news, we are now all officially caught up to the Spacebattles thread. Yay! As we are now all caught up, I will be transitioning to a weekly updating schedule alongside the Spacebattles thread. So, goodbye daily updates, and hello weekly updates.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **ian25rebel** : Glad you liked the omake! Yeah, the Bewear that adopted Team Rocket is a blast, and in the Alola saga it replaced the Blasting Off gag. It really is the best gag of the series as well.

 **Celestia's Paladin** : I have no shame. And yes, having Saito and Louise interact without the harem elements is something that we purposefully set off to do. Glad to see it's coming off well.

 **Sakura Linsel** : He does, actually. Since we mostly follow Louise's POV, however, we only show hers. Don't worry, though. He will be pulling out his Pokédex.

 **Ki Dalang Samezu** : Glad to see you like it! We enjoy writing it as well, and we have a lot of plans to uncover as time moves on. Team Rocket is, unfortunately, a one-off cameo in a non-canon omake. Do not expect to see them in the future. Again, they are in Alola, and the story is set in Kalos.

 **Pacer287** : Thank you. Again, I have no shame. Now, to answer why I chose Toni and Hawk, I needed names for two Characters of the Day OCs, and since they were skaters I decided "screw it" and went the path of puns.

 **PokemonFam93** : Louise's Pokédex is indeed the model used in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. The upgrade happened in the Anime as well, so we decided to bring it over here. Louise and Saito will indeed participate in a wide variety of different types of battles. Kalos has many, and we want to explore all of them. Make for more interesting chapters. One of this chapter's goals was to show just how good Maindo is when he gets off his ass and actually tries. The Espirit/Maindo interactions is also something we like to show. As for Bewear, we don't really know. Arceus doesn't even know. And that was not a typo. Ash and Co. went to Kanto for a few episodes, met with Misty and Brock, Team Rocket Shenanigans ensued, then Bewear suddenly showed up to take the TRio back to Alola.

That concludes the current chapter. See you guys on Saturday!


	23. Season 1, Episode 6, Chapter 3

**Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)**

 **Season 1, Episode 6, Chapter 3**

[~][~]  
As they stood in front of the massive gates, Louise and Saito gazed upon the castle in awe, but each experienced a rather different mix of emotions. For Saito, the structure was a masterful example of construction, a work of art, really; the history in the walls humbled him, yet excited him at the same time. For Louise, it was a vastly different matter. Shabboneau Castle wasn't _just_ a magnificent and grand castle. It was, but to her it was a reminder of home, a place of familiarity in an otherwise alien world.

"Hey," Saito began, sounding concerned, "You okay?"

"Huh?" Louise looked at him, confused. It was then that she felt a dampness on her cheeks, and she quickly wiped them away. "I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes," the rosecrown shook her head and began to walk forward. Saito moved to reach out to her but thought better of it and just followed her instead.

As they opened the castle gates, Louise's mind drifted back to the matter at hand. Castles like these were common back home. Princess Henrietta lived in one, in fact, and it honestly blew this castle out of the water–but that might just be her own personal bias in play there. At the same time, it also emphasized how different things were here in Kalos. This castle wasn't a symbol of strength, like the ones back home. It was more a relic of a bygone era, back when Kalos truly was ruled by nobility. Now the country was a constitutional monarchy, the nobles stripped of their power and left merely as cultural institutions. The thought frightened her–admittedly–but it seemed to work for them.

"Welcome to Shabboneau Castle!" an elderly man said as he approached the duo, "Are you here to visit the museum, or do you have an appointment with Lord Shabboneau?"

"We're just here for the museum," Saito quickly said, cutting Louise off.

The man smiled, "Well, that's wonderful. Right this way, please, and feel free to ask any questions you may have."

The two followed the man down a grand hallway lined with portraits of well-dressed people, though there seemed to be few commonalities between them. None of them looked related, so they couldn't be family portraits. The style of dress varied between them as well. Some were rich, some were poor, so they weren't all nobility.

"Excuse me," Louise began, halting the old man in his tracks. He turned towards her, given Louise his full attention, and she cleared her throat. "Who are these people in the portraits?"

"So, you noticed?" the old man said. He gestured towards the paintings with an outstretched palm. "Well, this is Barnabas de Shabboneau's collection of portraits. Before you ask, there really isn't any rhyme or reason to this collection. Barnabas simply bought whatever caught his eye.

"In fact, here is a perfect example of his collecting habits," he said, stopping in front of a stylized painting of a burly man with ominous brown splotches scattered across the canvass. "This man was Erik the Wrathful, a notorious pirate from a time when the Ferrum region was still considered a hive of scum and villainy. There's actually a bit of a legend behind this painting if you would like to hear it."

"Why not?" Louise said, and Saito nodded.

"Well," the old man clasped his hands together and turned towards the painting, "legend says that on one of his raiding trips, Erik captured a frigate carrying a Kantoan artist, and took him hostage. Fearing for his life, the artist offered his services as an artist in exchange for his freedom, and Erik accepted, under the condition that the artist paint a portrait of him. The artist reluctantly agreed, even though he knew that portraits were not his strong suit. He tried his best, exaggerating and emphasizing certain features to make Erik appear more threatening. However, the raider took one look at the finished painting and slashed the man across the chest, splattering the poor man's blood across his last work," the man then turned around and chuckled at the pair's horrified faces.

"You don't need to look so shocked, we had some tests done a few years back and discovered that the brown spots were merely coffee stains. Incidentally, Erik the Wrathful was said to have died from caffeine poisoning." He lightly chucked at the irony.

"…You can die from caffeine?" Louise raised her eyebrow and looked towards the splotches with mildly morbid curiosity. Saito, on the other hand, just looked irritated.

"If you know that the story is false, why do you still tell it?" Saito asked.

"Tradition," the man answered. "Plus, it's a treat to see the reactions visitors have to the tale. Anyways, there is another painting that you must see before we continue. This way!"

The man led them down the end of the hall, pointing out a few notable paintings along the way, until they came to a large mural. The mural was distinctive in that it depicted a partially destroyed building instead of a person or group of people.

"This is a relatively new addition to our collection, and while it doesn't exactly mesh with the other pieces, it fits for another reason. This mural depicts Parfum Palace as it was at the end of the Great War some fifty years ago. While some of the damage seen was caused by the many airstrikes throughout the war, most of it was caused by a four-month siege around the middle of the war by Almian forces, backed by their Orrean allies. What you see is how the palace looked after it was liberated by Corporal Surge Matis of the Unovan Army and a group of wild Raichus he herded together."

"What was so important about Parfum Palace?" Louise asked. She had known about the Great War. Bloodiest war in Earth's history, the scale of which terrified her. Tensions had been building between the various regions around the world for decades until finally it erupted after a terrorist attack in Unova by Orrean agents posing as radical extremists. Unova retaliated, alliances were drawn, and after seven years of fighting, there were millions of people and Pokémon dead, Orre was practically wiped off the map to the point where they still hadn't recovered, and Unova was unquestionably the strongest region in the world. That war was why everyone spoke Unovan now, or at least knew it.

The man looked surprised but continued where he left off. "Parfum Palace is the traditional home of the royal family of Kalos, and while the King doesn't live there anymore, his son still does."

"Oh," Louise said, embarrassed by the situation.

"Anyways, that concludes our tour of the permanent collection," the man said, "We are not hosting any exhibits at the moment, but feel free to take a brochure as you leave." With that, they made their way back to the entrance, but Louise stopped once they entered the lobby.

"I'm sorry for my error earlier," she said to the man, "but, if I may ask a favor of you, are there any tailors in this town that you would recommend?"

The man just laughed, "No need to worry about that, but if you want my opinion…"

"Louise," Saito interjected, "I'm going to take my team out to train in the woods. I'll be waiting for you in the plaza by eleven-thirty, so either meet me there or call me if you are going to be delayed."

Louise smiled and nodded before returning to her conversation with the elderly man. There was a nearby shop a few blocks away, and apparently did great work at an affordable price. She supposed Saito would approve of that. She then looked around the large room, eyeing all of the statues and mannequins

"Sir," she caught the guide's attention. "I have another question to ask. As you probably noticed, I'm not from Kalos, and as such I'm unfamiliar with certain parts of her history."

"That is quite alright," he gently smiled. "What do you wish to know?"

"Well, I was wondering about the nobility of Kalos. Why they aren't in charge anymore. The noble families of Kalos were for thousands of years, the power of the royal family absolute, but now they're merely figureheads. What happened?"

"Now that," he slowly nodded, "is a complicated question, with an equally complicated answer."

"I'd be happy to hear it. I'm in no rush."

"Then by all means," he gestured towards a seat, which Louise took. "To understand why the nobility no longer has any power, you have to understand how Kalos came to be. Kalos has a rich, deep history stretching back in some way, shape or form four thousand years. When King Kalos of Lumiose unified the various smaller kingdoms for the first time, Coumarine, Shalour, Ambrette, Cyllage, and many more, they accepted him as King, and all the other royal bloodlines became the lesser noble houses. For the next thousand years, Kalos experienced a time of prosperity and expansion. They were without question the strongest nation in the world."

"What happened?"

"The Kalosian Civil War happened. Three thousand years ago, the King of Kalos ruled the kingdom justly and fair. The land was prosperous. But prosperity creates greed and envy. His younger brother wanted this for himself and started a revolt in an attempt to take the throne. That war devastated the country and was only ended when the King built and fired the Ultimate Weapon, the very same one used by Lysandre a year ago. That ended the war, but soon after the King became obsessed with his creation. His beloved Floette died in the fighting, and he was determined to bring her back to life using the weapon. Thousands of Pokémon's lives were sacrificed to activate it, and in the end, he succeeded. But, the Floette was disgusted and left him. He disappeared soon after, and outside of his younger brother burying the weapon in an attempt for repentance, the unity that held Kalos together disintegrated."

"That's…awful," Louise looked downcast. She knew how bad wars of succession could get. The allure of power was all-encompassing for some. "But that doesn't really answer my question."

"I'm getting there, don't worry. In short, the actions of the King and his younger brother left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Kalosian nobility. It wouldn't be for another two thousand years until Kalos was reunified under the current royal family, but from the very beginning their power was much more limited. No longer was their word law. As part of the unification process, a House of Lords was created, giving the noble families more say in Kalosian affairs. For the next seven hundred years, Kalos functioned this way, but various noble families grew more and more complacent with their position. Grew more and more extravagant at the expense of the commoners. In the end, things reached a boiling point and there was a real possibility of a revolution. One that the king knew the nobility could not win."

"How?" Louise was wide-eyed. She couldn't wrap her head around nobles not being inherently stronger. She soon realized her error. "Pokémon."

"Exactly. The commoners, by default, had a much closer relationship to Pokémon than the nobility. Sure, most weren't as powerful as the Dragon-types and Arcanines and other various Pokémon of the nobility, but all Pokémon can be powerful, especially in the right hands. Not to mention the commoners and their Pokémon outnumbered the nobility ten to one. It was simply a numbers game, and in the end, the King preempted the revolution by installing a House of Commons. Over time, the House of Commons grew more and more powerful as the population grew until it was they who had the real power of Kalos. A fact that was only solidified by the Great War. So now, the noble families still exist, but no longer have the control over the country as they once did."

"I…see," Louise grew silent. The thought disturbed her. Not because of what Kalos did – again, it seemed to work for them, and she wasn't going to judge another world for their customs – but what it meant for back home.

Back home, there was a defined order of things. Nobles at the top as rulers, commoners at the bottom and serving the nobility. Magic made that hierarchy natural and accepted. Yet at the same time, many thought that was the only qualification of the relationship. She heard of many who simply thought that doing whatever they wanted, so long as it was contained within the letter of the law, was morally acceptable, no matter how heinous. They had forgotten that the relationship was a two-way street. Nobles had to protect those below them. Nobility wasn't a right, it was a responsibility. Her mother stressed that every day to Louise and her sisters.

That relationship had completely broken down in Albion, and now there was a Republican Reconquista going on. From what she could tell, the Tudors didn't have much time left. Could something like what happened to Kalos happen back home? While she vehemently believed that Princess Henrietta would be able to stave it off, she couldn't deny that abuses of power had occurred. It disgusted her, truly, and in her time at the academy, she couldn't help but overhear hushed whispers of grievances against the student body, all nobles, against the common staff.

She shook her head. Now was not the time to ruminate on such matters. Bidding farewell to the kind old man, Louise turned and walked out of the museum. She would focus on this once she got back to Tristain. Kalos may be from a different world with different rules, but that didn't mean that its history could be ignored.

* * *

"Ok, Maindo, try it again!"

A trio of rocks glowed blue, slowly rising into the air as they orbited around the Ralts. Ever since Maindo had figured out Psychokinesis, Saito had been working with him to master it. At this point, the training was simply picking up large objects and performing complex tasks with them, but he was improving. Ronin and Tanuki continued to practice on some ways away, Ronin by honing his water attacks and Tanuki performing glowing katas.

"You can drop them now, Maindo," Saito said, noticing the strained expression on his teammate's face. The Ralts readily complied, breathing as heavily as if he had just run a mile. Saito smiled, pulling a bottle of water and a handful of berries out of his pouch and giving them to Maindo.

"Good job, buddy. Now, relax a bit while I check on Ronin and Tanuki…." Saito trailed off when he stood up and discovered that Maindo had disappeared on him. Sighing, he bent down to place the berries and water on the ground before a shadow stretched out of the ground, snatched the items out of his hand, and darted off into the trees.

' _Well, at least he took the berries,_ ' He shook his head. Any progress was good progress, no matter how small. He prepared to walk away, only to feel something small hit the back of his head. He stopped and groaned. Without even looking, Saito already knew that Maindo had thrown one of the berries' seeds at him.

Shaking his head, the trainer walked over to the other side of the clearing where Ronin was honing his water attacks on some trees and Tanuki was practicing some glowing katas, "Alright, how are you guys doing over here?" Tanuki smiled and started his exercise again but paused as he started staring at a section of the woods.

"What is it?" Saito asked before he started feeling _something_. It was like a noise just on the edge of his hearing, something half-seen out of the corner of his eye. Maindo felt it too, and suddenly went very still as they both scanned the clearing. Something was wrong, very wrong.

"Form up and stay close, something's going on!" Ronin and Tanuki immediately complied and rushed over, Tanuki having already sensed the disturbance. All four of them huddled around each other, scanning every area of the tree line. Saito thought he saw a large white eye starting at him, but as soon as he turned his head, it disappeared back into the foliage.

"What was—" he was cut off as three monkey like creatures fell out of the forest. All of them looked similar, but one was green, another red, and the third blue. Saito recognized them immediately, not even needing to pull out his Pokédex. They were a Simisage, Simisear, and Simipour, Pokémon native to Unova. The first one was clutching its head in pain and howling angrily, while the other two looked like they were ready to murder whatever was responsible.

"What the hell?" Saito muttered before groaning in exasperation. Normally the Elemental Monkeys were so happy and carefree, yet these looked to be in a great deal of pain and extremely pissed off. He already had an idea as to who was responsible, and he groaned.

"Dammit, Maindo. What did you do this time?" he said to himself as he massaged his forehead. Sighing again, he spoke up louder, directly at the trio. "Look, I'm sorry abou—" he started, only for the Simisear and Simisage to spit out a torrent of fire and a stream of glowing seeds at them.

"Move!" Saito yelled as he and his Pokémon immediately went into action. Ronin shot out a Water Pulse at the charging Simisear, who staggered at the impact but kept going. The Simisage turned to retaliate at the otter, only to be intercepted by Tanuki's Quick Attack.

The two entered into a brawl, the Simisage biting, scratching, and hissing with reckless abandon while Tanuki threw out glowing punches and kicks. Tanuki's fist glowed as he threw a Meteor Mash at the grass monkey, only for it to leap back and yowl. Undeterred, Tanuki charged forward, his fist still glowing, only for him to suddenly trip as grass sprang out from the ground and wrapped around his ankle. The Simisage was on him instantly, and all Tanuki could do was cover his head while it kicked and scratched at him mercilessly. After a few moments, the Grass Knot loosened, and Tanuki sprung to his feet. His body briefly glowed as he Countered one last swipe of claws, then rained blow after blow onto the Simisage, an angry snarl on his face.

Ronin, meanwhile, continued to duel the Simisear. The much larger monkey was, like his green counterpart, mostly fighting at a primal level. Seeing how that wasn't working, the fire monkey created a large fireball in its hand before throwing it at Ronin, who shot it out of the air with an Air Slash like it was a clay pigeon. As the slice of compressed air made contact with the fireball, it exploded, sending a wave of fire across their battleground. Ronin was buffeted by it, and his fur looked partially scorched, but otherwise he seemed fine. He did look irritated, though, and immediately launched a Water Pulse at the monkey's chest.

That left only the Simipour to continue charging, and to Saito's horror, he noticed it was going for him. He prepared to jump out of the way, only for a psychic aura to envelop the creature and hurled it away. Maindo launched a Shadow Ball at the Simipour, sending it back further. When Maindo launched another, the Simipour dodged it and leapt at the Ralts, who barely managed to push it away.

Again, the blue monkey fought mostly with primal instinct. Saito was beginning to notice a pattern. Whatever was causing their aggression was also somehow affecting their ability to use their moves, or at the very least making them so angry that they couldn't think of using them. Judging the wave of burning fire the Simisear launched towards Ronin, it seemed to be the latter. Maindo reappeared right in the Simipour's face, a large Shadow Ball already forming in his hands. It exploded, making the monkey recoil. It then glowed in a pink aura as Maindo grabbed its head and slammed it into the ground before hurling it away.

"What is going on?" Saito wondered aloud. The battle was coming to an end, and to his relief, his team was winning. It didn't hurt that the Elemental Monkeys still didn't use their diverse move set. Was whatever causing the agitation to the wild Pokémon preventing them from doing so? A sort of mental block? Before he could ponder any further, the three wild Pokémon were launched into a thick tree, one after another. Each successive impact further cracked the tree, until it then toppled over entirely. Saito's Pokémon closed in on the three monkeys as they picked themselves off the ground. Rather than continue to fight, they began to trudge back into the forest, briefly stopping to shoot a dirty look at the trainer. Soon, they were gone, leaving Saito and his Pokémon alone and confused.

"… I don't know what that was about," Saito nervously said, "but we should probably head back into town."

His teammates couldn't agree more.

* * *

Louise was happy for herself as the exited the tailor, her clothes pressed and pristine and flicking the cared in her fingers. Saito had given her back the card with the warning of not going overboard, and to her pride was able to fulfil that demand. The tailor was indeed quite affordable, and the work She was happily preening herself and looking her outfit over when Saito found her a hour earlier than expected.

"Saito? Is something wrong?" Louise asked as she ran over to him. He was panting, but not injured.

"Kinda," he responded with a grimace, "There's something wrong with the Pokémon on Route 6. They're agitated about something."

"What? What do you mean?" Louise was confused.

"We were attacked by a Simisage, Simisear, and Simipour."

"What? Why? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, don't worry, but… For the life of me, I don't know why they did."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that there was no reason why they attacked. Elemental Monkeys aren't territorial, and in fact are quite friendly creatures. They didn't seem like they were challenging us to a battle, and, while I'm not discounting that Maindo did something to piss them off, they seemed to be lashing out more than anything."

"Lashing out?"

"The Simipour was in pain. A lot of it, apparently, but I didn't see any injuries on it, nor with the others. It was as if it was all mental. They saw me and thought, for whatever reason, I was behind it. The strangest thing, and the main reason why I don't think Maindo is responsible, was that the Simipour didn't even use any moves. Very…primal and raw."

"That's…disturbing," Louise mused. She looked towards the Palais Gate. "Do you think we should wait on going up to Parfum Palace?"

Saito shook his head. "No, no. You wanted to go up there, and between the two of us, we should be fine."

"Thank you," Louise smiled. "Now then, two things. One, we'll walk up to Parfum with our Pokémon all out, just in case."

"Agreed. What's the second thing."

"We're going to need to get you a better set of clothes. I will not have you meet the royal family wearing a hoodie."

Saito groaned. He was already regretting his decision.

* * *

They ended up buying Saito a nice navy-blue blazer along with a white undershirt and khaki pants. He looked nice, if Louise said so herself, and at that the two set off for Parfum Palace. They stayed on the road, avoiding any traces of nature that they could, and managed to keep themselves free of any dirt or grime. Coupled with a psychic field created by Espirit, the two of them were quite sheltered from the elements. The two walked up to the Parfum Gates without incident, Louise a little peeved at Saito's apparent overreaction. Nothing had happened, but she did admit that the feeling of being watched was back. Still, she composed herself.

Louise stood at the door to Parfum Palace and hesitated, despite herself. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time, meeting some of the local nobility and possibly forming some bonds. However, something made her pause.

"Uhh, Louise?" Saito asked, "Are you having second thoughts about this?"

"What?" the rosecrown indignantly said as she turned around, "I'm just… just composing myself for my introduction."

"It's ok if you don't feel ready," he said, "we are most likely going to be coming back through here."

"It is of no concern. I'm perfectly ready for this," Louise declared, confidently knocking on the door. "Besides, weren't you the one worrying about agitated Pokémon attacking us on the way here? And nothing happened. I'm honestly starting to think you only said that to scare me."

Saito flinched slightly at her accusation. Before he could speak, the door opened, revealing a curly-haired maid with a rather bored expression on her face.

"So, you finally decided to stop loitering," she said, "State your business here, and be snappy about it."

Louise was taken aback by the maid's curt demeanor but pushed on anyways. "My name is Louise Françoise le Blanc de La Vallière, and we wish to have an audience with the lord of this castle." She respectfully bowed and used the formal tone and language she would use with nobles back home.

The maid yawned, "The _grand duke_ is visiting his wife's family in Alola and will not return for some time. Good day!"

The maid began to close the door, but Louise hurriedly stuck her foot in its path.

"I'm terribly sorry for getting his title wrong," the rosecrown said, "but is there anyone here that I may talk to in his stead?"

The maid frowned, but dutifully answered, "His daughter, Princess Allie, remained behind, but she lacks any real power over the estate and is unlikely to have any time to entertain visitors. Good day!" She tried to shut the door once again, to similar results.

"Could you at least check?" the young noble pleaded.

The maid sighed and reluctantly opened the door. "Fine. Wait inside, I'll go see if she's willing to meet with you."

The pair entered the palace and the maid went to find the princess, grumbling the entire time about indignant children. Saito chose to remain standing, while Louise, who was more accustomed to noble society, sat down on one of the chairs.

It was nearly twenty minutes before the maid returned, accompanied by another maid, although her outfit was rather peculiar. At a glance, her outfit was clearly designed differently from her companion's, and several parts appeared to be made of metal. It seemed to be constricting the woman and did not look at all comfortable. Her gloves in particular were completely made out of metal, looking almost like gauntlets rather than gloves. Louise supposed it was a stylistic choice on her part, so she paid it no heed.

"Well, sis," the maid from before said, "here are the two I told you about."

The second maid grinned happily and brought her hands together with a metallic clap. "Welcome to Parfum Palace, honored guests~! My name is Annabelle, but most call me Snow. But enough talking, follow me~!" With that, Snow rapidly about-faced, causing her cyan hair to whip around rapidly, and marched off, leaving the two stunned trainers behind.

"So, she's your sister?" Saito cautiously asked the first maid.

"Yes, Snow is my elder sister," the maid confirmed, "Now, if you don't mind, it's her first day as Head Maid, and you've caused her enough problems already, showing up unannounced. So get going!"

"Uhh, yes, ma'am!" Saito said, quickly following the head maid, Louise following a few seconds later. It didn't take long for them to catch up, although it appeared that the maid hadn't noticed their absence, as she was idly prattling on about something or another. The prattling stopped once she did, and she let out a glowing smile.

"I hope that you are hungry~!" she said, addressing them, "Princess Allie has graciously invited you to join her for lunch!"

Saito began to object but was silenced by an elbow to the ribs.

"What will we be having?" Louise asked.

"And we're here~!" Snow said, completely ignoring the question as she threw open a pair of doors and walked into the dining hall, "I'll go inform Princess Allie that the meal is ready, so feel free to get situated in the meantime."

"You never answered my question," Louise said as the cerulette quickly left the room, "Never mind. Saito, would you kindly sit down? It seems like I have enough time to give you a crash course on etiquette."

Saito groaned.

* * *

Louise had only just managed to teach Saito enough so that he wouldn't embarrass himself when the sound of clanking metal heralded Snow's return.

"Honored guests! I present to you, Princess Allie of Parfum Palace!" she declared, stepping aside to allow an elegantly dressed young girl to enter the room.

" _Uhahahaha_ I'm so happy to meet another noble around my age!" the princess said.

"W-well, I'm happy to meet you too. How did-?" Louise said.

"Please, I recognized the name of foreign nobility anywhere! I have so many questions for you, but we can talk after lunch," Allie turned to Snow, "Annabelle?"

"Right away, ma'am!" the maid replied, rapping her knuckles against her wrist three times to call the servers.

The meal wasn't exactly what Louise had expected, being simply a platter of grilled fish, but it certainly met her standards for a noble's meal. The meal was uneventful, apart from Snow excusing herself after a loud crash was heard from the kitchen–returning ten minutes later with a rather menacing looking light blue Pokémon with a spiked back in tow. She smiled sheepishly while the spiked Pokémon rubbed its head in embarrassment.

"Annabelle," Allie said once she had finished eating, "aren't you forgetting something?"

"Oh! I'm sorry! Must have slipped my mind." Snow said, pulling out a blue and red Pokéball. "Sandslash, return." A red beam shot out and struck the Sandslash, sucking it in. Saito and Louise turned back towards Allie, only to be surprised that she looked unimpressed.

"I wasn't referring to your partner, Annabelle." Her tone was flat, devoid of the earlier friendliness towards Louise. "Why are you still dressed like that?" Snow looked confused, while Saito and Louise just looked on silently.

"You said that the Head Maid must be distinct, and none of Sarah's old dresses fit me," she pointed out.

"You two are the same height, why wouldn't they fit you?"

Snow awkwardly tapped her corset instead of answering. "A-anyways, I need to go prepare the garden. Please excuse me."

"That's a wonderful idea, Annabelle!" Allie exclaimed, "Why don't you take our guests there?"

"Of course, right this way!" Snow quickly led the two trainers out of the room, an uncomfortable feeling growing in the pit of their stomachs.

"You might not believe me, but this is the second time today that we've been in a hall of portraits," Louise said, taking in the many regal paintings that lined the hall; however, something about them was bugging her.

"Are you referring to the Shabboneau Art Gallery?" Snow queried, "I've been there once or twice before, but my responsibilities here have prevented me from visiting recently. Did you see the mural?"

"We did," Saito answered, "It's pretty interesting to see how this place was rebuilt."

"I guess that I'll have to visit once the Grand Duke and his wife return," Snow said, smiling, "Anyway~, if you want to know about the paintings, I'll do my best to explain, though I'm not as good as the guys over there."

"Well," Louise said, taking the cerulette up on her offer, "who are all these people?"

"Eh?" the maid turned around, her continence twisted into a look of utter confusion, "These _paintings_ depict the royal family of Kalos throughout the ages! I'm certain that at least William de Kalos has a portrait at Shabboneau Castle, so why wouldn't you recognize him!? In fact…"

At that point, Snow simply began ranting on and on, only stopping when she saw the horrified expressions on Louise and Saito's faces.

"Oh~, I'm sorry, I seem to have lost my train of thought," she said, the innocent, cherubic smile on her face completely at odds with her demeanor mere seconds earlier, "Right this way~!"

"That… was strange," Saito said, following the maid.

Louise, on the other hand, was much more embarrassed by her perceived slight against the royal family, and consequently began to pay more attention to the portraits in the hall. It may have been due to her embarrassment that she finally noticed what was bothering her: a rather peculiar sword could be found somewhere in nearly every painting. While at first glance it seemed to be a normal broadsword, the blue tassel extending from the pommel and the blue eye set into the cross guard seemed to suggest otherwise. Additionally, the sword appeared to age from painting to painting, as signs of damage on the blade remained roughly the same or worsened, until it suddenly stopped appearing altogether. Curious, the rosecrown doubled back until she reached the painting with the clearest view of the sword. The portrait depicted a man clad in a dress uniform and bedecked in a reduced version of the king's regalia; however, Louise was more interested in what he held. The long-dead king had the sword unsheathed, pointing it off into the distance while the tassel wrapped itself around his arm. The young noble pulled out her Pokédex and took a picture of the blade, searching through the device's memory until she found a match. Surprisingly, the algorithm pulled up an entry from the Pokédex, running it as soon as the search concluded.

" _Honedge, the Sword Pokémon,"_ it chirped, _"This Pokémon is born when a departed spirit inhabits a sword. It attaches itself to people and drinks their life force."_

"A Pokémon?" Louise muttered to herself, "Could it be the same one in each of these?" However, the rosecrown was pulled out of her thoughts by her companion shouting at her.

"Hey, Louise! Are you coming?" he said.

"Yes, I am!" she shouted back, running down the hall as fast as she could.

Louise caught up to the others quickly and were led out to the spacious garden. It was extravagant, taking the two trainer's breath away.

"This is… This is beautiful," Louise gazed out over the green landscape. She could see workers trimming the bushes and watering the plants, along with a herd of beautiful and exotic Pokémon. She recognized a few of them. Furfrou, Arcanines, Ninetails, a Milotic in the center fountain, and many more she couldn't recognize. All of them looked regal and beautiful, befitting a royal family.

"Ahh~, I always enjoy coming out here and just basking in the Sun," Snow sighed and leaned her head on her hand.

"I can see why," Saito replied, equally awed by the sight. The three then went to a large tree towards the center next to the fountain, a few chairs seated under its canopy. Louise and Saito sat down on them, while Snow remained standing

"Princess Allie will be out her momentarily." She bowed. "Please, enjoy the gardens until then~!" She turned to leave, but Saito raised a hand, stopping her. "Yes?"

"Is it okay for us to have our Pokémon out?" he asked, pulling out a Pokéball. "I think they'd really like it out here."

"Of course!" Snow smiled and threw her arms wide. "I see no reason why not! Please, proceed." Saito and Louise smiled and immediately released their Pokémon onto the grass. They all stretched and took in the sights of the garden, and except for the Maindo who started grinning mischievously, all looked awed. Snow smiled at their expressions. "Is there anything else?"

"Actually, I had a question regarding the paintings," Louise asked.

"Oh? What of?"

"I noticed on several paintings a sword, a… Honedge, I believe. It looked like the same one, but those paintings were done over centuries. How can that be?"

"Ah, I see," Snow nodded. "That was a Honedge, and you were correct that it was the same one. That Honedge had been a friend of the royal family for generations, centuries really, until one day it left."

"How can that be?" Saito leaned forward. "How can a Pokémon live that long?"

"Honedges, like all Ghost-types, are functionally immortal," Snow revealed. "Unless they are destroyed, they cannot die of old age, hunger, or disease. Sure, they're still affected by it, but they won't die from it. So really, a Honedge living that long is nothing special."

"But it was with the royal family?" Louise pointed out. "That makes it special by default."

"Very true. From what I read, that Honedge was a very special Pokémon. Very skilled and wise. Never once evolved, though. No one knew why." Louise and Saito went silent.

"… Why did the Honedge disappear, then, if he was so important."

"No one knows. He just…up and left one day, and never came back. Where he went no one knows, either. The King forbid any searching, saying that his friend deserved his rest. That was…three hundred years ago, now."

Saito and Louise pondered this until Snow clapped her hands together. "Well, that's enough of that. I'll leave—" The palace doors opened, revealing the maid from before. She looked irritated, glaring at her sister, with Princess Allie standing next to her. She looked annoyed as well. The garden grew quiet, the workers stopped working and the Pokémon stopped as well.

"Eh-hem," the maid glared at Snow, who suddenly grew wide-eyed.

"Oh, I am so sorry!" She hastily made her way over to the doors. "Presenting Princess Allie of Kalos!" As if a button was pressed, all the workers lined up on opposite sides of each forming a walkway for Allie to regally step out onto. She smiled as she did so, apparently enjoying the attention she was getting. Saito and Louise, on the other hand, grew more and more uncomfortable. To Saito, the entire thing was just odd, not used to seeing people act like this. To Louise, she was uncomfortable for a whole other matter. They weren't doing this out of respect, far from it. She could catch quick glimpses of an angry or irritated expression on a worker's face, some fearful, before being replaced with an artificially happy one. She was making them do this in a blatant display of power. It made her sick.

"Sorry I'm late. I was waiting for someone," Allie looked at Snow. "I thought I told you to change into one of your sister's clothes, Annabelle?"

"Well, I… Princess," Snow began to nervously explain, "Rose's clothes are all too small for me. I can barely fit into this as it is." She tapped the metal corset in emphasis. "If I go any further, I'll hurt myself."

"I see," Allie got a contemplating look on her face. Louise began to think that she was turning around. "That's understandable. You are excused for today."

"Thank you, Princess! I—"

"Tomorrow we start working on your weight problem." At Allie's declaration, everything went silent. Shocked expressions appeared on everyone's faces, including Snow's sister, although she quickly recomposed herself.

"…Weight…Problem?" Snow meekly asked.

"Yes," Allie nodded, whether indifferent to the effect of her words or obvious they could not tell. "You're obviously in need of it if we're going to fit you into your sister's clothes. You're much too meaty for them."

"I…" Snow clearly didn't know what to say or do, shocked beyond them. She did, however, clench her teeth and tighten her fist. She looked ready to explode, but Allie either didn't notice or didn't seem to care.

"Don't worry, Annabelle. Just a few weeks, and we'll—".

Saito had enough.

"Now wait just an Arceus-damned minute." He angrily got up to his feet. "Snow looks perfectly fine. She does not need to lose anything to fit your insane body standards."

"Saito!" Louise hissed at him. She was just as offended as he was, but she knew now was not the time.

"Excuse me!?" Allie screeched indignantly. Everyone else looked shocked at his outburst, but Saito ignored them.

"You heard me, you harpy! I don't care who you are, you have no right to needlessly put someone down like that just because they don't fit your "grand design"! So, get your head out of your ass and apologize to her!"

The garden grew silent, everyone shocked at his outburst. Louise stared wide-eyed in horror. Not at what he said, that she wholeheartedly agreed with, but the fact that he said it to a noble. Not just a noble, but the _Princess of Kalos_. He was breaking so many rules! Louise moved to apologize for him, only for Allie to blush and start laughing.

"Hehheheh!" she chuckled, causing Saito and Louise to look at her strangely. "So assertive and forceful! Could it be that you…like me?" She sounded hopeful at that, but everyone else merely stared blankly at her.

"Wha…? NO!" Saito yelled out in denial. "How would you even…?!"

"I think it is time for me and Saito to leave," Louise got up, clasping her hand over Saito's mouth. "I am terribly sorry for my friend's lack of proper decorum. He's not used to interacting with the nobility."

"I think that is appropriate," Snow's sister darkly glared at the boy, who remained unrepentant.

"Again, I am terribly sorry. He acts like a _stupid dog_ sometimes. He doesn't know any better, honest!"

"I'm sure I can—" Allie began, only for Louise to cut her off.

"No, no. I'll take care of that, no need to over exert yourself." Louise glared at Saito. He glared back, but after a while, closed his eyes and nodded. She took her hand off his mouth and lightly bowed to the princess, while he merely crossed his arms and glared. Allie moved to protest but stopped herself and sighed.

"Very well, you may leave. It's a shame we weren't able to speak more, Louise," Allie sounded legitimately regretful, not having picked up on Louise's genuine desire to leave. "Perhaps some other time?"

"Of course, Princess," Louise lied. She had no intention of ever coming back here. They began to return their Pokémon, but when Louise got to Brennaraki, Allie stepped forward.

"Oh, that is a marvelous Fennekin!" Allie swooned.

"…Thank you…" Louise looked at Allie suspiciously. She prepared to return her, but Allie shook her head.

"There's no need for that. She can stay out of her Pokéball."

"Oh… Thank you." Louise put the Luxury Ball away.

"Of course. Annabelle here will escort the two of you out and your Fennekin will stay here."

"… _What_." Louise's voice went flat.

"Yes, obviously, in return for wasting my time. You are not a noble, no Vallière family exists anywhere in the world, which means you aren't a noble at all!" She sounded angry now, conveniently forgetting that Louise never actually lead her on that path. "You've completely wasted my time ever since you got here, so now I'm getting what I am owed." Louise said nothing. Silently, she returned Brennaraki to her Luxury Ball, and Allie smiled.

"Good, now I'll just take that Luxury Ball and—"

"Absolutely not." Louise clipped the ball to her belt. Allie looked enraged, but before she could protest Louise went on. "Let me tell you something, _Allie_. Brennaraki is not yours. She is _my_ starter, _my_ friend, and under no circumstances will I allow _anyone_ to take her to a place where she doesn't want to be! And your "payment"? You can take it and, as my friend Saito would eloquently put it, shove it up your ass!" Everyone went silent at this, Saito the one with a look of shock on his face.

"Excuse me! Do you know who I am!?"

"You are a person who thinks she is a Princess but is nothing of the sort!" Louise accused, stomping up to her. "A Princess doesn't just order people around! A Princess is a person to be respected and admired! A Princess is to be an example of what it means to be a noble, the heart and soul of any kingdom, who all citizens, nobles and commoners alike, can look up to! You are nothing of the sort! You are a bossy, manipulative, selfish woman who makes everyone conform to your unrealistic expectations and takes whatever she wants with no rhyme or reason! Tell me, do you even know what Noblesse Oblige is?" Allie looked back at Louise, enraged.

" _No. Enlighten me_."

"Noblesse Oblige is the responsibility of all nobles look after and care for their subjects. To keep them safe and secure and to move the country forward on a prosperous path in return for their loyalty!" Louise shouted, and her rage grew when Allie looked like Louise was speaking in a foreign language.

"That sounds made up."

"No! No, it's not! It's what nobility _is_! Nobility is not a right, it's a responsibility! You treat it like it's a game!" The two girls looked like they were ready to explode, and Saito was growing worried. Making sure to keep an eye on the two girls, he slowly turned towards Maindo.

"Can you teleport us out of here?" He whispered to the Ralts, only to find that he had disappeared on him.

' _So much for the easy solution,_ ' he grimaced as he turned his attention back to Louise and Allie. Louise and Allie. It was getting more and more heated, and now they were both shouting at each other. To his relief, it looked like Louise was winning, judging by how angry Allie was getting, but in and of itself was a cause of concern.

Discreetly, he released Tanuki. "Find out where Maindo went and bring him back to the main road. We are going to wait for you there." With a quick nod, the hound stealthily bounded off into the gardens and after taking a moment to steel himself, he quickly took hold of Louise's arm and, ignoring her protests, began to drag her out of the palace. The workers all parted for them, some of whom looked relieved that someone finally said what they were all thinking, and it wasn't long until they exited the front gates. He could feel Allie's glare at the back of his head, but he ignored it.

He never noticed the flurry of shapes fluttering through the trees towards him and Louise.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest episode of Outsiders! So, as any who've watched the anime know, Allie is kind of a jerk. By kind of, I mean a massive one. This little endeavor from Louise was doomed from the start, but its important for her character development as well as furthering the mystery of Palais. What is happening? Stay tuned.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **Detinc** : Thank you! Glad to hear it!

 **Avro 683 Lancaster** : You will have to wait and see what Louise's next Pokémon is. We have a plan for all of hers and Saito's Pokémon.

 **Pacer287** : Sorry about your daily fix. But, at least you still get it weekly! As for your question, stay tuned.

That does it for this week's chapter. Stay tuned for next Saturday for the next chapter of Outsiders!


	24. Season 1, Episode 6, Chapter 4

**Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)**

 **Season 1, Episode 6, Chapter 4**

[~][~]

On the highest branch of the central tree, Tanuki stared out across the garden. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Saito drag an angry Louise out of the palace. She was still arguing with the Princess, who herself was yelling right back. They were both red in the face, flush with anger, but soon enough Louise and Saito were out of view, and the sounds of arguing ceased. They were then replaced by the Princess yelling at her servants, who dutifully complied.

" _Geez, what a basket case_ ," the hound mumbled to himself as he watched Allie stomp back to her room. Frankly, he didn't really care what she felt. Louise and Saito were one-hundred percent in the right during that scene. She had it coming. If only he…

He shook his head. It was not the time to be thinking about that. He had a job to do. Closing his eyes, Tanuki activated his Aura Sight and began to scan the palace grounds. It was easy at first, but as his sight slowly expanded, it became harder and harder to keep it up, the strain becoming worse with each passing second. Before, in Santalune, he was focusing on the Aura signatures of humans, something he had plenty of experience with. They tend to have a noticeable aura signature. Even then, it was more of a spotting a lighthouse on the horizon rather than pinpointing an exact location. Here, it was much more difficult. He was searching for a small Pokémon signature potentially in a large area, one who could teleport at that. Maindo's signature could easily be drowned out by something else.

" _Gaagh!_ " Tanuki lost focus, the strain had grown too much. Dropping to his knee, Tanuki began to breathe deeply in ragged breaths. There had been too much for him to focus on.

"… _Okay, that was…harder than expected._ " He stood back up and looked out over the garden again. It hadn't been that long since he'd started, perhaps only ten minutes. It wouldn't be too hard to catch back up to them. Just find Maindo, leave, and then…

He stopped. An idea slowly slithered into his mind, like an Arbok sneaking inside a nest. He could just leave. He didn't _have_ to find Maindo. He could just say that Maindo teleported away, and despite his best efforts, he couldn't find the runaway Ralts. It was tempting, really. Maindo had been nothing but trouble ever since they met the Ralts. All the insults he threw, his lack of participation, the mean-spirited pranks, and generally being a colossal pain in the ass constantly grated Tanuki's being. Sure, he liked to joke around every so often, but his jokes were always light-hearted and in good fun. Ones where everyone could look back on and laugh. Maindo's "pranks" were just him being a dick. He was especially hard on Espirit, and that always made Tanuki's blood boil. For the life of him, Tanuki couldn't quite figure out just why Maindo acted the way he did. Saito did nothing wrong to him, and from what little Maindo had revealed, it wasn't like he was a previously abused Pokémon from another trainer. He was just an asshole, but even that wouldn't explain the depths Maindo had sunk to. It would be easier to just leave him behind.

But even then, Tanuki knew he couldn't do it. Leaving him behind was wrong, and even if he left the Ralts behind, Saito would be worried about him. Besides, what kind of Pokémon would he be if he betrayed a teammate like that, even if that teammate was a pain in everyone's ass.

Shaking the dark thought out of his mind, Tanuki closed his eyes again and extended his Aura sight. This time, he fought through the strain, and began to filter out the Auras of humans and Pokémon. This made it easier, but the strain over looking over such a vast area was still enormous. Just before he lost the battle again, he found him. The Ralts was on top of the palace roof, standing on a spire. He hadn't seemed to notice Tanuki was there.

His target found, Tanuki quietly hopped off the tree and ran towards the palace walls. His small body made it difficult for the human workers and lounging Pokémon to see him, so he wasn't impeded in the slightest. Reaching the walls, he began to hop from window to window, rising upwards with each bound. Soon, he was safely on the roof and made a beeline towards the Ralts.

' _Was wondering when you'd find me. Might want to get that checked out. I mean, how hard can it be to see a bright green spot on a red roof_ ,' Maindo said as Tanuki made his way towards him. Tanuki narrowed his eyes before shaking his head.

" _Come on, we have to get back to Saito. He sent me back to get you."_

' _Oh, I know why you're still here. Frankly, you hounds are all too easy to read. Let me guess, he was_ worried _about me? And people call me adorable!'_ Tanuki growled.

" _Listen, frankly I could care less if you came back or not—"_

' _Thank you! That's so nice!'_

"… _But Saito, for some inconceivable reason, does care about you. So,_ I _care about you by proxy. So, quit being difficult for five seconds and we can—"_

' _Nah, I'm good.'_ Tanuki faltered at Maindo's nonchalant answer.

" _Wha… What?_ "

' _I said, I'm good. At least for the moment, anyway._ '

" _Wh… Why?"_

' _And miss out on all the fun?'_ Tanuki's eyes narrowed at the now grinning Ralts.

" _I know that look. You're planning something. So, spill."_

' _Okay, okay. Not like I could hide it or anything from your big nose even if I tried!'_

" _Get to the point!"_

' _Okay, geez. So angry._ ' Maindo smiled then leaned forward conspiratorially. ' _Now here's the thing. I didn't leave with you chumps right away because I've got my eyes on something far more entertaining._ ' Maindo turned his gaze towards a nearby window and grinned sinisterly. Tanuki followed his eyes and found himself staring at Princess Allie, currently berating the head maid from before. What it was about he couldn't tell, but he had an idea it wasn't anything good.

"… _What do you have in mind?_ " Tanuki found himself asking. Maindo laughed and wrapped his arm around the Riolu's shoulder.

' _Listen, Tanuki. Let it me known that_ I'm _the top asshole around here, and I don't like it when someone takes my throne._ '

"… _You said it, not me._ " Maindo shrugged and continued.

' _It's a fact, and I'm not ashamed of it. Still, I don't like being usurped, and frankly, from what I've seen, this girl deserves to be taken down a peg or two. Back in Lumiose, one of my favorite things to do with my family was to bring humans down a few pegs, and that's what I'm going to be doing to Princess Stick-In-The-Butt over there.'_

Tanuki went silent, contemplating his next course of action. " _…Need some help with that?"_

Maindo's grin got even larger.

* * *

"WHO DOES THAT STUPID, ENTITLED BRAT THINK SHE IS!?" Louise screamed as she stomped around in circles on Palais Lane. They were well past the palace now, its red roof nowhere to be seen. In its place was a sea of green grass and trees, the leaves filtering much of the summer sun and letting splotches of sunlight onto the dark forest floor. The two trainers had been sitting on a fallen log along the side of the road for some time. Or at least Saito was, as Louise had quickly began stomping around in fury.

"SHE CALLS HERSELF A PRINCESS!? _A PRINCESS?!_ SHE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT A PRINCESS IS!" Louise continued to rant and stomp. The last time Louise had acted like this, Saito had been the voice of reason attempting to calm her down.

"I know!" Saito threw his arms in the air, still seated on the log. "Just what the hell was her problem?! She had no reason to act like that!"

"None at all!" Louise shouted in agreement. She had stopped stomping at this point, and was now content with angrily standing in place, facing towards the seated Saito. "And noblise oblige is "made up"? My entire family's philosophy is made up?! And she has the _gall_ to declare me a liar! Declare that I'm "not a noble". _Elizabeth is more of a noble than she is_!" Louise was animated again as she sat down hard on the log and screamed into her hands.

"There, there," Saito comforted her, patting her back. "Let it out. Take a deep breath and let it out."

"It's just…," Louise sighed. "I was so excited. A chance to finally meet the nobility of this country, get a semblance of home, and she goes against _everything_ a noble stands for." Louise sighed again. "Is this why the nobility of Kalos lost their power?"

"I'm no expert," Saito shrugged, "but from what I learned in history, that is basically what happened. Of course, there were precipitating events that preceded it, mind you. Needless and costly wars with neighboring regions, noble abuse of commoners. Oh, and don't forget famine. There was a _big_ famine going on at the time, and while the commoner's nearly starved, the nobles lived in the lap of luxury."

"No wonder they revolted," Louise grumbled. She knew full well the root cause of many commoner revolts back home. Nine-tenths of the time, they were caused by famine. A hungry peasant was willing to do just about anything alleviate that hunger. They were all put down violently, of course, but the smart rulers always fixed the problems. Others simply had more revolts appear.

"Yeah…," Saito grew silent. The air buzzed with the sounds of insects and whistling of the wind. It was tranquil. Looking down at his belt, Saito gazed upon two of his Pokéballs. They both had the empty indicator light shining on them.

"They're still back there?" Louise's soft voice rang out. Saito wasn't surprised that she noticed. Despite how angry she can get, Louise was a very observant person.

"They are." Saito looked back in the general area of the palace. He was starting to get worried. "What is taking them so long?"

Seeing his distress, Louise pursed her lips and sat upright. Pulling out a Luxury Ball, she quickly released the Pokémon inside. The light coalesced into Aile, who preened herself before looking back up at Louise. "Aile, I need you to go back to the palace and find Maindo and Tanuki, got it?" Aile nodded and took off. Her small body disappeared into the leaves quickly, and soon she was out of sight.

"Thank you," Saito smiled at his partner, and she smiled back.

"No problem."

* * *

" _Geez, where are those two?_ " Aile soared over the canopy, her eyes trained on the palace in front of her. It was getting closer, yet even with her excellent vision, she was having trouble making things out. " _Oh, once I evolve, the things I can see._ " She sighed wistfully. That day will come, and she was getting closer. When it would happen, she didn't know, but she hoped it would…

" _What the?_ " Aile stopped abruptly and hovered in place. The palace was in absolute chaos. Workers and staff were running amok, searching every nook and cranny and shouting among each other. Several of them sported marks on them, ranging from whiskers to spots and mustaches, all made of black marker. Some were crying inconsolably, and others were jumping at every shadow, as if something would jump out at them. It took a moment, but as Aile hovered in place, her eyes narrowed.

" _What did those idiots do now?_ " She rolled her eyes flew towards the palace. With any luck, she'd be able to spot them soon enough.

* * *

Allie stomped through the palace halls. The past hour had been nothing but disaster after disaster. First, her lunch, one much fancier than the one she served to those charlatans, exploded in her face and ruined her favorite dress. When she demanded a replacement dish, the cooks all ran out, screaming about haunted appliances coming alive and trying to eat them. By the time they finally went back in, the entire kitchen was a burnt, smoking wreck. If that wasn't enough, by the time Allie finally got back to her room to change, _all_ of her dresses had been torn to shreds.

That had been the last straw, and she promptly ordered her workers to find the perpetrators. They complied, of course, and that was when the troubles started affecting them as well. One group saw a small boy walking all alone in the halls, and when they tried to investigate further, each got assaulted by a monster of their deepest nightmares. Each one described something different than the last, but they all promptly ran out screaming like little girls. She of course fired them on the spot. Can't have cowardly workers, after all.

Other workers experienced similar events. Hallucinations, things thrown at them. One unfortunate group had their hair all dyed hot pink, somehow. She wasn't quite sure how exactly that happened, but she had to admit it was funny. There were other pranks of that more benign nature, mostly facial and body markings along with the occasional shaved head. That was what clued the princess in that there were two perpetrators, with one more malicious than the other.

"When I get my hands on them…" Allie grit her teeth as she continued to stomp in the halls. Annabelle solemnly walked behind her, now quiet after getting quite the scolding from the princess. Inside, she was fuming, but she bit her tongue. She continued to follow behind the ranting princess, contemplating her next move. Maybe…

She paused as a small noise went out behind her. Letting the Princess continue without her, Annabelle turned around to catch a glimpse at the source. It was only for a moment, a green head and blue ears sticking out from behind a corner, but Annabelle recognized them immediately.

"Annabelle? Get back here!" Allie yelled out towards her from down the hall. Annabelle turned back towards the Princess.

"Coming, Princess!" Annabelle hurriedly walked back towards the irritated Princess, softly giggling to herself.

* * *

" _I think we got a fan_." Tanuki watched the girl walk away, a smile on his snout. This past hour had been an absolute blast, for all things considered. Every action they took just made Allie madder and madder, and Tanuki loved it.

' _What can I say? I do good work_.' Maindo absentmindedly checked his nails. ' _So, what shall we do next?_ '

" _Hmm,_ " Tanuki hummed in thought, cupping his lower snout with his paw. Tapping his foot, he began to walk back and forth, thinking up potential pranks, his original purpose for being here forgotten. " _How about…no, we already did that one. Oh, maybe…Nah, too boring._ " He snapped his fingers. " _I got it! How about- "_

" _There you are!_ " A shrill voice rang out above them. Looking up, Tanuki and Maindo saw the hovering form of Aile covering the noon sun and casting a small, fluttering shadow over them. She looked displeased, to say the least. " _Do you know how long its been?! An hour! Saito and Louise are worried sick!_ "

All at once, the forgotten reasons came rushing back in, and Tanuki looked down in guilt. " _Oh, yeah…_ "

"' _Oh, yeah' is right! What were you two thinking? What were you two even_ doing _?_ "

' _Oh, lighten up, birdie._ ' Maindo yawned, clearly bored with the conversation. ' _So, we decided to take the princess down a few pegs. Big whoop. She deserved it._ '

Aile wasn't having it and she landed down in front of them. " _Does it look like I care?_ " she asked, staring Maindo right in the eye. He wasn't affected.

' _Meh, hard to tell, really. Your beady little eyes are so hard to read, and your mind is so empty that looking at it doesn't tell me anything._ '

" _Why you little-!"_ Aile lunged at the laughing Ralts, only to be held back by Tanuki.

" _Maindo, that was uncalled for._ " He scolded.

' _Meh._ ' Tanuki glared at Maindo's answer, then sighed.

" _About what I expected._ " Aile stopped struggling, and he let go. " _Now come on. We've wasted enough time as it is._ "

" _Thank you,_ " Aile thanked the Riolu and glared once more at Ralts. " _That means you too, jerk._ "

' _Okay, okay_.' Maindo held up his hands in conceit. ' _Fine. We'll stop._ '

Tanuki and Aile's eyes narrowed in suspicion. He had given up far to easily.

" _What do you want?_ " Aile asked, and Maindo chuckled.

' _You see, my feathered friend-_ '

" _We are not friends."_

' _Acquaintance, then! Point is, little birdy, you can do things I, frankly, cannot._ '

" _And what makes you think I would help you in…whatever it is that you are doing?"_

' _There's an entire basket full of berries with your name on it if you do._ ' Aile's eyes widened, and her stomach growled.

" _I, uh…. I don't…_ "

' _Inside the kitchen, there is a large basket filled with every type of berry in Kalos. Pecha, Oran, Sitrus, even imported berries like Tamato and Watmel_.'

" _Uh…"_

' _All you have to do is help us with one, final prank against the Princess, and they are yours._ "

Tanuki and Aile went silent, both staring at the grinning Ralts and quietly weighing their options.

"… _I'm listening._ "

* * *

"What is taking her so long?" Louise pranced around in worry. Saito, now on his feet, was worried as well, taking quick glances towards the direction of the palace.

"Maybe we should go back?" he suggested, but Louise shook her head.

"Not yet, not so soon after insulting the Princess like that. It would _not_ end well."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"Hmm." Louise cupped her chin in thought. "I think…the best bet we have is to wait a bit longer for Princess Allie to calm down a bit then head back. Then, we—" Louise suddenly stopped. The hairs on the back of her neck stood upright, and she went very still. A chill ran up her spine, and her eyes went wide.

"Louise? What's—" Saito felt it, too, and he went quiet. "What is that?"

"I don't know," Louise replied, her head darting back and forth. Without needing to say anything, Louse released her Pokémon out of their balls, Saito doing the same.

" _Gaagh!"_ Brennaraki clutched her head and howled in pain. Ronin soon joined as he fell to the ground screaming, while Espirit fell to her knees in pain.

"Ronin!" Saito yelled at his downed Pokémon.

"Brennaraki!" Louise looked in worry between her starter and Espirit, who appeared to be using all of her psychic power to hold off against whatever was affecting them. "Espirit, what's going on?!"

A series of brief images raced through Louise's mind, and her eyes widened even more.

"Well? What is it?" Saito asked, kneeling over Ronin.

"Something's affecting their minds! A Psychic-type!" Louise revealed, now holding out her wand. "Espirit's doing everything she can to make sure we aren't affected!"

"Well…shit!" Saito swore and ripped a tree branch off the log he was sitting on earlier. He and Louise stepped back to back, keeping a constant vigil on the surrounding forest. A faint tingle could be felt on both of their minds, but thanks to Espirit's efforts, it ended there. "You see anything?"

"No- There!" Louise pointed her wand towards a nearby tree. "Fireball!" A loud explosion rang out, reducing the tree into a cloud of smoke and splinters. At once, the Psychic assault ceased, and the Pokémon's wails along with it. A quick look revealed them to be unconscious, and Espirit was panting from exertion.

"…Remind me never to get in the way of one of those," Saito murmured, eyeing the stump where the tree once stood.

"What kind of psychopath do you take me for?" Louise momentarily broke her gaze away from the tree line. "I would never do that to you or anyone else."

"Well, that's reassuring. Thank you."

"Honestly," Louise shook her head and turned back towards the trees. "I'm not that—" Louise stopped cold as she stood face to face with a giant eye. "AAAGH!" Louise jumped back and shrieked. This didn't seem to bother the eye in the slightest, as it just tilted and seemed to hum in contemplation, still hovering in the air while Louise sat on her butt and shakily pointing her wand at it.

"What is that!?" Louise squeaked as she took the creature in sight. She had seen many Pokémon since she arrived on Earth, many strange and outlandish, but this took the top prize. Outside of a single large, white eye, it was jet back. It had no wings, yet was hovering in place, likely a result of Psychic levitation. But the strangest feature was how its body was shaped. It wasn't like a normal body, one that closely resembled an animal. It didn't even look artificial, with no traces of machinery in its composition. Rather, its body appeared to be an extension of its eye, with a thin black extension coming out of the top and looping halfway around its body clockwise.

"Is that…a D?" Saito looked at the Pokémon in front of him. It seemed vaguely familiar but for the life of him, he couldn't remember what it was. At the very least, it seemed to be peaceful. It was just floating there, staring at Louise with its large eye, not making a noise. Seeing how it wasn't doing anything, he slowly pulled out his Pokédex and pointed it towards the creature.

" _Unown, the Symbol Pokémon. Unown are largely a mystery to modern science. Theories exist to explain just what they are, ranging from ancient talismans coming to life to the very basis of the alphabet itself. What is known is that Unown are frequently found near ancient ruins or otherwise hidden locations, and while individually they are harmless, as the Greenfield Incident has shown, if a large enough group of Unown gather together, there is no limit on their power._ " The Pokédex revealed, and Saito began to sweat.

"Fuck…" he gulped. Now he remembered. He had heard about the Greenfield Incident. It was all they played on the news for weeks a few years back. A little girl found a box of Unown, opened it, and the resulting psychic energy created a reality warp that nearly destroyed the town until a group of traveling trainers stopped it. Of course, it was later revealed to have been Ash Ketchum, but people didn't put together the dots until after the Battle of Lumiose. Still, he knew just how powerful these things could be.

"Louise, we need to get out of there," he whispered to her and lifted her off the ground. Louise had heard the Pokédex and quickly nodded.

"Okay, just back away—"

" _Unown…"_ Saito and Louise stopped as the Unown suddenly made a noise.

"Did it just…"

" _Unown…. Unown…._ " The Unown continued to chant, but this time it seemed to be getting louder. Espirit suddenly went very still and clutched her head as the chants got louder and louder. The tingle came back, only now it was much worse, causing a mild headache for both trainers.

"What is it…!" The forest exploded in activity as a swarm of Unown, far too many to count, flew in from all directions. Their flight stirred the air around them and an already weakened Espirit was unprepared for the sudden force, sending her flying away with a small yelp. Louise couldn't even scream her name before the psychic force suddenly wailed on them.

"GAAGH!" she and Saito screamed and clutched their heads as the Unown drew closer and closer.

" _Unown… Unown…. Unown…_ " with one final chant, the swarm exploded into a bright light and loud pop. Espirit, barely gotten to her feet, had to shield her eyes with her arm, but when the light subsided, she gasped at the sight of the empty forest in front of her.

Louise, Saito, Brennaraki, Ronin, they were all gone.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone. Sorry for the delay. We almost didn't have a chapter this week, as my dog got diagnosed with lymphoma, but the show must go on.

So yeah, who saw the Unown coming? Obviously we did, but now we must wait to see exactly why they are there and why they took Louise and Saito with them. And of course Maindo is still his jerkish self, only now he's dragged others into his shenanigans with him.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **MBenz4268** : Thank you. I am of the opinion that any story can be enhanced by weaving in the real world. Gives it more weight. You are correct that Orre was based off of Arizona. I chose Orre because of all the different regions we've been to in the Pokémon games, Orre is the most desolate. I figured "hey, them being destroyed in a war" would be a good justification, hence why they and Unova were enemies. Ferrum is actually the region of Pokken, the Pokémon fighting game made by the Tekken developers. The Ranger regions are based off different regions in Japan as well.

 **Hey** : Thank you for the review. The game terminology can be a bit attributed to early installment weirdness, back when we were still getting started. I do share your sentiment, though. We try to take inspiration from the games, but not to be a 1:1 adaptation of its gameplay. Its why we don't show every trainer command. Doing so breaks up the flow, so we limit them to a few succinct cases. Also, people don't eat Pokémon anymore. In our story, there are regular domesticated animals like cows and chicken. That is what people eat. As for Arceus, his reasoning will become more apparent in the future. And thank you. We wanted Louise to have some time to get used to Pokémon. No need to have her immediately jump into being a trainer, and her basically being an intern to learn the ropes before starting out seemed like the best move. And we enjoyed having Brennaraki and Louise bond as well. The battles are less like the games as time goes on and I get better at writing them, and I hope you continue to like what you see.

That does it for this week's chapter. Stay tuned next week for the next chapter of Outsiders!


	25. Season 1, Episode 6, Chapter 5

**Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)**

 **Season 1, Episode 6, Chapter 5**

[~][~]

For the longest time, Espirit just stood motionless. She stared at the now empty grass that once held her friends along with a swirling vortex of Unown. After a moment, she tentatively took a step forward, then another, and another until finally she was sprinting to where they were, hoping beyond hope she would _something_. But she found none. Beyond a faint indent in the grass, there was no sign of them anywhere. She tried psychically reaching out, hoping to somehow spot them, but again found nothing.

'… _Louise?_ ' Espirit faintly called out, tears building in her eyes. Once again, she tried to scan for them, but nothing was around. She was alone.

The only sounds heard were faint sobbing.

* * *

Allie grumbled to herself as she and her Furfrou sat in the garden. It appeared that things had finally calmed down, and pranksters ceased their efforts. While this was nothing but good news to the spoiled Princess, and in fact cheerfully welcomed it, but she couldn't help but be cautious. They might still be around, after all, hoping to catch her unawares.

"Like that's going to work on me. Right, Furfrou?" Allie asked her prized Pokémon. She barked in reply, and Allie smiled. Furfou understood, she always did.

Not like those stupid workers and maids. No, they were just awful. Dreadful, really. She knew how they spoke of her behind her back. How she was conceited, arrogant, spoiled rotten, and cruel. How could she be cruel? The first person to suggest that to her got fired immediately, which shut the others up, but she still heard hushed whispers. She just knew one of them was behind this. Who, exactly, escaped her, but once she was done, there was going to be a reckoning. She was already forming plans on how to do it. Punishing all of the workers until the culprits revealed themselves sounded good.

"Hehheheh," Allie darkly chuckled to herself, only to be interrupted by a rustling bush. Furfrou immediately went into alert, placing herself between the noise and the Princess. The rustling continued, and Allie began to order an attack, only to stop as a small purplish-grey fox stepped out. She recognized this Pokémon. It was the shiny Fennekin that the girl had.

"Hello, Fennekin," Allie greeted in a high-pitched voice. "What are you doing here?"

The fox yipped in response and wagged her tail before sitting down. Allie stroked her chin as she contemplated the fire fox's reply. What did she mean? The Fennekin yipped again and pawed the ground, inching closer to the Princess. At once she understood the fox's intentions, and she broke out into a smile.

"Did you come back for me?" she asked, overjoyed. The Fennekin happily yipped and put her paws on Allie's chest, her tail never ceasing to wag back and forth. This was all the proof Allie needed, and she scooped the Fennekin into her arms. "Oh, I'm so happy you finally saw just how much better I am than that annoying rosecrown!" After all, why wouldn't she be? She was prim, polished, and nobility. Everything that uncouth Louise wasn't.

Suddenly, the Fennekin jumped out of her arms and ran away. "Hey, come back!" Allie cried out and gave chase. It seemed as though the Fennekin was wanting to play games with her. She would have to train that bad habit out of the Fennekin the first chance she got. Furfrou wasn't far behind Allie and quickly caught up to her, staying by her side the entire time. They never lost sight of the Fennekin, who seemed to be deliberately holding itself back. As they ran through the forest, they passed through patches of dirt which covered Furfrou's and Allie's feet.

"Stop moving!" Allie demanded, increasingly fed up with the Fennekin's playfulness. Oh, it was definitely going to go. Finally, the Fennekin stopped, making Allie and Furfrou do the same. "Finally. If your going to be with me, we're going to need to get rid…" Allie stopped as she took note of something odd. Specifically, the Fennekin's feet was completely clean and untouched. Allie looked back down at her feet, seeing it caked in a fine layer of brown dirt, and a quick look at Furfrou's showed the same. They had followed the exact path the Fennekin had taken, so why was its feet clean?

"What's going on?" Allie asked, taking a step back while Furfrou growled and stepped forward. The Fennekin merely yipped in response, but otherwise stayed still. Allie narrowed her eyes in suspicion, and tentatively stepped forward. "I said, tell me what is—"

Fennekin suddenly disappeared into thin air, halting Allie in her tracks. "Wha?" she managed to get out before she heard a flutter of wings overhead. Looking up, she saw the tailfeathers of a red bird dart into the trees, but her attention wasn't on that. It was instead on a hastily woven basket of twigs and leaves tipping precariously overhead. Allie only had time to scream before the basket tipped over completely, ending a shower of berries raining down upon her. They exploded upon impact, sending their sticky juices all over the Princess and Furfrou, tie dying them in a rainbow of colorful splotches and ruining her dress.

"I…I…" Allie unleashed a wordless scream as she took sight of her ruined dress. It was absolutely, irreparably destroyed. Fine Kantoan silk, imported straight from the source, gone in a matter of seconds. She kicked and screamed as she threw a childish tantrum, even after hearing a loud pop from somewhere beyond the forest. She only stopped after several minutes of screaming, making her throat sore.

"…Grrgh," she let out one final growl then turned away, stomping back towards the palace. She idly noticed none of the workers came toward her, but she paid that no heed. Her attention was focused on someone else. Specifically, she now knew who was responsible for this.

"Furfrou," she began, "as soon as we get cleaned, they're going to pay."

The dog growled in agreement.

* * *

" _Did you see the look on her face?!_ " Tanuki howled with laughter as he, Aile, and Maindo teleported back into the forest. Above them was a wicker basket filled with every conceivable type of berry along with a very hungry Aile, currently gorging herself on their bounty.

' _Priceless,_ ' Maindo concurred as he set the basket down. Light specks of berry flew out from the basket, and he chuckled to himself. ' _Enjoying yourself there, birdy?_ '

" _Yes._ " Aile didn't even pause, continuing to eat her fill. Maindo chuckled to himself and idly grabbed a red, spiky, spherical berry that Aile was ignoring. Tamato, if he recalled. He never actually had one and started to bring it to his mouth when Tanuki's laughter redirected his attention.

" _I mean, she was so mad! First, she was all 'You want to be my friend?', then she was 'Wha?', then…hahaha!"_ Tanuki couldn't finish his sentence as he devolved into a laughing heap, with Aile joining in as well.

Maindo chuckled to himself but remained quiet. To be honest, the prank against Aile wasn't his finest work. It was funny, yes, but mostly because of who it was done to. He was actually slightly disappointed in himself as it wasn't up to his standards, but he was holding himself back for Tanuki and Aile. They wouldn't have gone along with his other ideas. Still, they pulled through, and the entire experience was spectacular.

' _You know, I might actually miss them a little,_ ' Maindo mused to himself as he pulled the berry closer to his mouth, only to stop as the other two's laughter grew louder. After a while, he joined in as well. They continued to laugh for some time, until Maindo heard the sound of crying.

' _Geez, you guys laugh weird.'_ He stated, drawing confused looks. _'You sound like you're crying._ ' At once, the laugher ceased completely, but the crying sound was still heard.

" _That's…not me…_ " Tanuki looked towards the direction the crying was coming from. Slowly, they all paled and went stiff.

' _Aile,_ ' Maindo asked, seriousness for once flooding his voice. ' _Where, exactly, were our trainers waiting for us?_ '

"… _Over there…_ " Aile shakily pointed her wing forward. Right where the crying was coming from.

A pregnant pause ensued, then immediately the three Pokémon sprinted forwards. Maindo tried to teleport closer, but there was some kind of psychic interference preventing him from doing so. He soldiered on, running as fast as he little legs could take him. Aile released a Tailwind, boosting their speed, but neither she nor Tanuki sped away from Maindo. Something was wrong, and the last thing they wanted was to separate. Finally, bursting through the bushes, they reached the source of the crying and gasped. There, lying in the center of the grove, was a sobbing Espirit, all alone.

" _Espirit? Espirit, what happened?_ " Tanuki ran forward and slid on his knees to the crying Ralts.

' _Tan…Tanu…Tanuki?_ ' she barely got out through her sobs.

" _It's me. We're here, all of us._ " He gestured towards Aile and Maindo, who ran and flew over to her, equally concerned.

' _What happened? Where are Saito and Louise?_ ' Maindo gently asked, a first for him since they met. At once, the sobbing began again.

' _I…hic…I tried to stop them!'_ Espirit sobbed. _'There was just too many…hic!'_

" _Too many?_ " Aile asked. " _Too many of what?"_

' _I don't know… hic … they looked like flying, black letters with eyes. The… The Pokédex called them 'Unown.''_

' _Unown?'_ Maindo repeated in what almost sounded like fear. He knew of them. Lumiose TV had an interesting special on them. ' _What the hell are they doing here?'_

' _I don't know what they were,_ ' Espirit continued, beginning to calm down somewhat. _'They just showed up and teleported the others away. I tried my best to shield them, but…'_ Espirit paused, and narrowed her eyes.

" _Espirit?"_ Tanuki asked in concern.

' _Where were you guys?_ ' she softly asked. A heavy presence began to be felt over all three of the pranksters, and they gulped. ' _Tanuki, weren't you sent to get Maindo? Aile, weren't you sent to get both of them when they hadn't come back? So, tell me, why did it take an hour and a half for_ any _of that to actually happen?_ ' She was met by silence. ' _Well?_ '

"… _There's a funny story for that, actually. We—"_ Tanuki wasn't able to finish his sentence as he was suddenly lifted up and thrown violently back into a tree. A loud thud was heard, and he quickly found himself unable to move his arms or legs. A quick look told him the same happened to Aile and even Maindo, who looked the most surprised at their predicament. They heard footsteps and paled. Turning his head slowly, he saw Espirit slowly stomp over to them, a purplish aura enveloping her.

" _Espirit, calm down._ " Aile begged. " _We can—"_

' _Shut. Up._ ' At Espirit's tone, Aile did just that. Espirit continued to stare at them, and all three felt a deep probe force its way into their minds. It was deeply uncomfortable, and not even Maindo could stop it, but it quickly receded. Espirit's face warped into one of disgust and she psychically slapped all three of them.

' _Let me get this straight,_ ' she began, _'You three decided to stay around at Parfum Palace, despite knowing we were waiting for you, just so you could torment the Princess and satisfy your appetite. Am I right?_ ' Slowly, all three immobilized Pokémon. Rather than calm her down, this just made her more enraged. ' _In doing so, you left us unprotected, so when the Unown arrived, I wasn't able to do anything, and therefore allowed them to get taken!_ ' Espirit was shouting now, and the others were sweating bullets.

' _Hey, how were we supposed to know th-!_ ' Maindo tried to defend herself, only for Espirit to zoom into his face. He gulped.

' _Had you stayed with us the entire time, we wouldn't have had to wait for you there! Had you been there, we could have had a better chance at stopping the Unown. So yes, Maindo, it is all of your faults!_ ' Espirit paused to let it sink in. ' _Here's what we are going to do. You are going to teach me how to Teleport, Maindo. Then, the two us will combine our minds to pinpoint their location and teleport all four us to them. We'll grab them and teleport out, and if you say anything about doing otherwise, you won't be able to sit for a week_.'

' _Alright, alright! I get it! It's not like would suggest leaving them to die! What do you take me for, a psychopath?!'_

' _Good!_ ' At once, as if flipping a switch, Espirit's cheerful personality returned in full force and she released the others from her grip. They fell to the ground hard and panted while Espirit crossed her arms behind her back. ' _Maindo, I'll be waiting for you over there. Tanuki, Aile, gather up some berries that will help to protect us from the Unown's psychic energy. Okay?_ '

' _Okay!_ ' Aile and Tanuki quickly answered, struggling to hold back their fear. Espirit smiled and hopped away, never quite leaving their view. As she got farther away, the others let out a sigh of relief.

" _Did any of you figure she could do that?_ " Aile asked as she fluttered over to the basket of berries. " _'Cuz I sure didn't._ "

" _Nope_ ," Tanuki replied as he concentrated on his Aura, thinking it could be useful in projecting a mental block. " _Sweet, nurturing and kind? Yes. Scary as hell when she's angry? No, no I did not think that. She was –"_

' _Kind of cute?'_

"— _terrifying._ " Tanuki and Aile stopped as they heard Maindo's voice, then slowly turned towards him. A faint blush turned his cheeks pink as he stared at Espirit, still walking away. When Maindo noticed the awkward silence, he turned towards the Riolu and Fletchling, who were giving him a strange look.

"… _Maindo? Do you…?"_ Aile began to ask, and the male Ralts simply raised an eyebrow.

' _What, just me then?'_ He blankly stared at them in confusion for a few moments longer before shrugging. He teleported away, reappearing right next to Espirit, who happily clapped her hands together. As she led him away, Aile and Tanuki watched until they were well out of earshot.

"… _Well, at least now we know he has a type._ " Aile observed, then got back to sorting the berries.

" _What? Prim, proper girls that just so happen to have a violent side?_ "

" _Yeah, that._ "

"… _So, like Saito?_ " At Tanuki's question, Aile paused then, after a moment, nodded.

" _Yeah, aside from being too good for him, that is. Huh, that's uncanny._ " They started their work anew, all the while worried their trainers, and praying they would be alright.

* * *

"Ugggh," Louise moaned as consciousness slowly returned to her. It was dark, she was lying on her back, and the ground beneath her was cold, damp, and hard. Her vision slowly came into focus, and the first thing she noticed was that it was dark. She could barely see a few feet in front of her, and the only source of light was that reflecting off of large bluish crystals. It looked like she was in a cave of some kind.

' _How did I get here?_ ' she thought to herself, struggling to remember. It was then that she heard faint breathing to her left. Looking over, she saw it was the body of Saito, who like her previously, appeared to be unconscious. At their feet, she saw the bodies of their starters, and it was then that she remembered.

"Oh, no…" Louise gasped, remembering everything. Maindo not coming back, Tanuki and Aile being sent after him, the Unown. Her eyes widened as she remembered the flying letters. What if they were still around?

"Saito. Saito, get up!" she whispered and quietly pushed him, attempting to rouse him from his unconscious state.

"Five more minutes…" he mumbled, only for Louise to slap him. "Aah!"

"Quiet!" she hissed and covered his mouth. "They might still be here." Saito looked confused for a moment, not quite sure what she was referring to, only for his eyes to widen in realization. Slowly, and quietly, he nodded, and Louise took her hand off of his mouth.

"Where are we?" Saito whispered, getting onto his knees and crawling over to Ronin. He sighed in relief as he determined their starters were still alive, albeit unconscious.

"Some kind of cave, I don't know where," Louise answered back, taking Brennaraki into her arms. Reaching around, she found her wand, and held it in her hand. "Any ideas on how to get out of here?"

Saito hummed to himself and looked around, then nodded. "Our best bet is to find the source of that light. Let's follow it. Hopefully, it might lead us to a way out."

"Okay." Louise nodded. Slowly, the two trainers rose to their feet and began to crouch walk away, careful not to make a sound. They couldn't hear any Unown, which relieved them immensely, but the two trainers remained on guard. They did, however, return their Pokémon, not wanting them to be put in harms way.

"Do you have any idea why they attacked us?" Saito quietly asked as they rounded a corner.

"No idea," Louise admitted. "We didn't even do anything. Maybe we entered their territory?"

"Unown aren't known to be territorial. They would have just hidden if we were bothering them," Saito pointed out. Louise pursed her lips and nodded as Saito continued. "What are they even doing here, anyway? They're not native to Kalos. Something had to attract…" Suddenly, Saito's eyes widened, and he looked towards Louise's wand. Louise quickly noticed where he was staring, and paled.

"You don't think…?"

"It messed with the Beedrillite. Might have attracted those Unown," Saito pointed out.

"Which means they were likely following us the entire time." Louise grimly concluded. Saito silently nodded, having reached the same conclusion. They soldiered, carefully checking each corner for Unown, but finding none. The light grew brighter as they scoured the halls, the brightest corridors being the taken routes. A few times, they got turned around, but they managed to find their way back and continue forward. Finally, after what seemed like an hour of walking, they emerged into a large empty clearing in the cave, a large hole in the ceiling, letting sunlight in.

"Well, found the source. Great…," Saito sighed. He sincerely doubted they'd be able to get out that way. Louise, on the other hand, began to look around, and quickly noticed something odd about the cave floor. It was covered in a layer of green moss; once she scuffed it away with her foot, she gasped.

"Saito! Over here!" she called out. Quickly, Saito ran over to her. She pointed to the ground and he gasped as well.

"Is that…cobblestone?" He knelt down and brushed his fingers over the smooth stone. It was, and he followed the path it made. It seemed to be leading towards a cave on the far side of the clearing. They looked towards each other and nodded. Following the cobblestone path, they walked into the cave entrance, careful to watch out for any Unown. Slowly but steadily, the cave sloped upward, making each step harder and harder. Finally, the ground began to level out, and they emerged at the base of a large cobblestone tower, embedded in the rock.

"Wow," Saito breathed out. He certainly hadn't been expecting this. "What is –?"

Suddenly, and without warning, the swarm of Unown reappeared and surrounded them. Instantly, Saito and Louise were clutching their heads in pain and fell to their knees.

"Grrgh…" Louise growled and grit her teeth, slowly raising her wand at the swarm. "Fi…Fire…Fireball!" A loud explosion rang out over the cave, the sound and shockwave echoing across the cave walls and dispersing the Unown swarm. At the same time, the psychic assault on their minds ceased, and a sense of calm formed in the air. Getting to her feet, Louise placed herself in front of Saito, her wand facing outwards.

"Stay! Back!" she warned, her shaking wand betraying her fear. A single Unown separated from the swarm and edged closer. "I'm warning you! Stay back!" The Unown continued to creep ever closer, and Louise released another explosion that it deftly dodged and kept approaching until they were practically face to face. She was shaking and gulped, as did Saito. Then, suddenly, the Unown seemed to nod to itself and darted over to the tower, the swarm of Unown parting as it passed.

"Wha?" Louise tilted her head.

" _Unown…Unown…_ " the Unown around the room chanted. Louise just looked confused, but realization dawned in Saito's face.

"I think they want us to go into the tower." He got to his feet and began to walk forward, only for Louise to grasp his arm.

"What? Are you crazy?" she hissed, but Saito stared right back at her.

"Do you have any better ideas?" When she didn't answer, he freed his arm and continued walking forward. He could hear soft footsteps behind him, and the two trainers walked into the tower. They were greeted by stone stairs leading up and down, and Saito wondered which way to go. That question was answered as a stream of Unown went downstairs.

"Down it is," he muttered to himself and walked downstairs.

"Hey, wait up!" Louise quickly caught up to him, and they walked further downward. The air was beginning to get heavy with an unknown energy, one that Saito didn't recognize, but felt strangely familiar to Louise. Finally, they emerged at the bottom and saw a stone pedestal in the center of a large antechamber. A rusted sword rested on it, and the Unown circled it.

"A sword?" Saito walked up to it and began to notice some peculiarities. It was still housed in its sheath, an ornamental design that almost looked runic.

"No," Louise replied. "It's a Honedge."

"A Honedge?" Saito looked at her then pulled out his Pokédex. He winced when he saw there wasn't any reception, but the scan function at least didn't require it. Activating it, he scanned the sword to find it was, indeed, a Honedge. One that, according to the scan, was over six thousand years old. "Arceus…"

Louise and Saito continued to stare at the Honedge, unsure of what to do. "Any ideas?" she asked.

" _Unown…Unown…_ " the circle of Unown continued to chant, looking down at Louise expectantly.

"I… I think they want you to use your magic on it." Saito looked at Louise's wand, and she looked at him, flabbergasted.

"You…you think so?"

"I honestly have no idea, and frankly, I'm just spit balling. Might as well try." Saito nervously smiled. "Just…don't blow it up."

"Geez…" Louise shook her head and took a deep breath. She didn't like it, but it was the only explanation they had. Nervously, she stepped forward, her wand at the ready and pointed towards the dormant Honedge. At once, all eyes of the Unown were on her, and beads of sweat began to appear on her forehead. She touched her wand to the metal sheath, closed her eyes, and concentrated. She reached deep within herself, and the tip of her wand began to brightly glow in a shining white light. Saito threw his arms in front of his eyes, attempting to shield them, until a loud, powerful explosion rang out and threw him and Louise away.

"AAGH!" they screamed from the sudden force before sliding on the ground. The Unown were now swirling, but they couldn't tell if it was from agitation or something else. Regardless, Saito and Louise slowly crawled back. Louise idly noticed how the psychic effect on their minds was gone, but otherwise observed the swirling mass of letters. Suddenly, the Unown stopped and parted, revealing the now floating Honedge. It slowly rose further into the air, its eyes still closed.

"What the…?" Saito wondered allowed as they continued to stare at the Honedge. Suddenly, the center circle on its hilt opened, revealing a single eye, shaped in a slit. It was only then that Louise recognized the Honedge.

"It's the same one from the paintings. The one that belonged to the King of Kalos." Her voice was filled with awe. Of course! The Unown wanted her magic to awaken it! Now she understood! Honedge stared at the two trainers and began to strain itself, and Louise and Saito tensed. Finally, after considerable time and effort, the Honedge freed itself from its rusty sheath, its blade just as rusted as the rest of its body.

"Aaah," it suddenly sighed out in relief, shocking Saito and Louise into a stunned silence. "Oh, you have _no_ idea how good that feels, let me tell you."

"Wha?" Louise managed to get out, her mind going blank.

"I mean, seriously," it continued in what they could determine was a male sounding voice, "it feels _so good_ to finally be able to move again. Try spending centuries stuck in the exact same confined position with only these little shits for company," he said as he dramatically pointed at the swirling Unown around the room. "And your entire body just gets so _tense_ and you just want to stab _something_!"

"Ho…how are you…?" Saito shakily pointed at the Honedge, who then turned its gaze towards the two trainers.

"What, never seen a talking sword before?" Louise got the feeling that if it could, the Honedge would be giving a confident grin. "I'll take your stunned silence as a no. Well then, you are in luck."

"Who…who are you?" Louise asked, her eyes still wide. The Honedge threw his ribbon bac in emphasis, his sheath coming behind him.

"I am the Sword of Heroes! Blade of Kings and Wizards! Partner to Az, Shane, and Brian!" The Honedge announced only to suddenly stop himself. "No, that doesn't sound right. Burgundy? No, no, that's not it either. Michel? There was definitely an I in there somewhere…" the Honedge trailed off, muttering to himself as a chorus of what almost sounded like laughter emanated from the small swarm. "Ah shut it, you blasted ink blots! I am the great and mighty Derflinger, and I will not be mocked like this!" The Honedge, apparently Derflinger, said with a threatening flourish, only to have a rock bounce off him and more laughter echo around the chamber.

"ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT YOU LITTLE BASTARDS!" Derflinger shouted as he threw himself into the swarm. They cried out in mock horror as they dodged his clumsy swings, leaving Louise and Saito behind as they silently gaped at the scene playing out before them.

"…I was not expecting this." Saito admitted as he eyed the flailing Honedge.

"…Neither was I." Louise replied with blank eyes. "…Should we try to get out of here?"

"I'm actually morbidly curious as to how this will play out, and I'm pretty sure the Unown are still watching us." He looked to his left, and sure enough he spotted two Unowns hovering over them. Louise merely crossed her arms and grumbled, inching closer to the boy and away from the flying script.

"HOLD STILL, YOU LITTLE SHITS!" Derflinger continued to swing at the Unown swarm, but the two humans and their starters could tell he was getting tired. Finally, he slowed down and stopped, his breaths shallow and panting. "Alright… Fine… We'll call it a draw… You're just lucky that I just woke up or else I…" A heavy silence fell over the crowd as Derflinger suddenly remembered Saito's and Louise's presence. He turned towards them with his eye slowly blinking, and flew closer towards them.

"Uh…" Saito nervously got out. "…Hello?"

"What's up?" Derflinger happily replied. "How you two doing?"

"Um…pretty good, all things considered…"

"The Inkblots are scaring the piss out of 'ya, aren't they?"

"Terrified, actually," Louise answered, eyeing the Unown and scooting closer to Saito. He nodded as well.

"Yeah, sorry about that. They aren't good with people," Derflinger replied and turned around towards the swarm. "Hey! Give 'em some space, will 'ya! You're scaring them!" At once the Unown dissipated and flew to the far side of the antechamber, remorseful looks in all of their eyes.

"Thank you." Saito was still nervously eyeing the Unown swarm, but they didn't come any closer.

"No problem." Derflinger lowered himself to eye level, the tip of his blade balancing on the chamber floor. "So, mind telling me exactly what happened?"

* * *

' _Now, the key to Teleportation is to visualize yourself in one place, then psychically moving there. It's like walking, only without the walking._ ' Maindo continued to coach Espirit, who's face was scrunched from concentration. It was a new experience for the Ralts, teaching another Pokémon to do what he did, but Espirit was picking up on the technique quickly. It wouldn't be long until they managed to-

He was cut off from his internal musing by a loud pop. Espirit was gone, and she suddenly reappeared next to a surprised Aile, who fell onto her back in shock.

' _I did it! I did it!_ ' Espirit began jumping in joyous celebration, with Tanuki joining in alongside her. Maindo smiled and nodded, but stayed where he was.

' _Good job. Keep practicing, I'm going to find the idiots._ ' Maindo turned away, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes. His mind reached out over the forest, filtering out anything that wasn't human. That in and of itself wasn't too hard, humans had a very unique mental signature. Rather than looking at everything all at once, like what Tanuki did at the Parfum Palace, he was instead searching for beacons and scanning that particular area. So far, he found nothing, but he did find some particularly interesting activity around Parfum Palace. Looks like the Princess was organizing a search party. Maindo didn't care, they would be long gone by then. After a few more minutes of fruitless search, he gave up on trying to find a human signature, and instead began to search for something more distinct. Something he had to repeatedly block off every time he was around her.

' _Need some help?_ ' he heard a soft voice ask him. Not breaking concentration, he recognized Espirit's voice immediately.

' _If you want._ ' Maindo continued to search. He could hear Espirit sit down beside him, and then felt a pulse of psychic energy emanate from her. In peaceful silence, they continued to search for their kidnapped trainers. Their search extended far past the forest, past the hills, and into the mountains.

' _Found them._ '

* * *

"And that's when the Unown took us here, and then we found you." Saito concluded.

"Hmm," Derflinger hummed to himself, his large eye switching back and forth between him and Louise. "Interesting. Very interesting."

"You call us getting kidnapped by flying letters interesting?" Louise glared at the Honedge, who merely shook his head.

"No, not at all. Frankly, these guys were completely out of line and should not have taken you." He turned to glare back at the Unown, who all sheepishly looked away. "But, I think I have a fairly good idea on why they did it."

"Do tell. I would love to hear whatever justification you may hav—"

"It's because you're a Void mage, pinky." Derflinger interrupted Louise, who stared back in stunned silence alongside Saito, Brennaraki, and Ronin.

"Wha…What?"

"I said, you're a Void mage. You would have to be blind not to notice that pouring off of you. It tends to give off a very distinct energy."

"Ho…how do you know what Void is?" Louise's mind was racing at a mile a minute.

"Because I used to be partners with a Void mage and one of his familiars." Derflinger offhandedly revealed. "What was his name again? Brett? Ian? You'd think after six thousand years, you'd remember a guy's name, but…"

"Brimir?" Louise breathlessly got out.

"That's it! That's the name!" Derflinger pointed his sash at Louise and closed his eye happily. "I remember now! Brimir and Sasha! The first Void Mage and Gandalfr!"

"You knew Brimir!?" Louise's eyes were as wide as saucers at this point, while Saito's jaw hung loose. Suddenly, she grew indignant. "And you forgot his name!?"

"It's been six thousand years, lady! I forget things! And of course I knew him! I was his sword! Well, technically I was Sasha's sword, but she was his familiar, so by extension—"

"No, no no! There is no way that-!" Saito interrupted, desperately looking between the panicking Void mage and Derflinger, who was now staring at him.

"Boy, I recognize denial when I see it. She already tell you who she is and where she came from?" Slowly, Saito nodded. "She's telling the truth, kid. We're from a different world." All at once, the cold, hard truth Saito had been denying to himself sunk in.

"Oh, Arceus…" He tightly gripped his hair and looked again at Louise, who was now shakily pointing her finger at the Honedge.

"I… I don... I don't…!" Louise stammered. She had so many questions. How did he get here? What was Brimir like? Was he always a Honedge? But instead of any of those questions being asked, she instead looked like a fish out of water, which caused Derflinger to laugh.

"I can see you have a lot of questions," he began, "so allow me to—"

Suddenly, a loud pop was heard. The sound echoed in the antechamber, and everyone turned to look at it, and the trainers gasped. At the center of the antechamber, they saw Maindo, Espirit, Aile, and Tanuki standing heroically and looking at their trainers. Espirit was panting, but her face was scrunched up as she glared at both the now slightly agitated Unown and confused Honedge. Aile, on the other hand, looked more nervous than anything, carrying a ring of berries around her neck. The biggest expressions, however, came off of Tanuki and Maindo, who looked furious.

" _Give me back my trainer, you asshole!_ " Tanuki roared before launching into a Quick Attack right at Derflinger. " _AAH_!" he screamed as his palm glowed with a blue aura. His paw made contact with the metal body of Derflinger, only to phase through without effect.

" _Waagh!_ " Tanuki fell to the ground with a thump, and silence overcame the antechamber.

'… _Tanuki, you dumbass! That wasn't the plan!_ ' Maindo slapped his forehead as he charged up a Shadow Ball.

' _I feel woozy…_ ' Espirit suddenly began to sway back and forth before collapsing.

" _Espirit!_ " Aile cried out and began to feed her berries.

' _Dammit! Do I have to do everything around here!?_ ' Maindo roared as he launched the Shadow Ball at Derflinger. Before the ghostly ball could impact Derflinger, his body swung out and bisected it. The two halves flew by harmlessly and impacted on opposite ends of the antechamber.

' _Wha?_ ' Maindo got out before the Unown swarmed the interlopers. They were angry, that much was apparent, and they began to charge up attacks of there on. ' _Shit._ ' Maindo braced himself.

"STOP!" Derflinger roared, and at once the Unown ceased. Everyone stared at the Honedge, who silently glared at them all. "Now then, let's all calm down, and talk about this like rational beings."

" _Rational! You kidnapped our trainers!_ " Tanuki accused, only to be silenced by a glare from the ancient Pokémon.

" _I_ did no such thing. That was those annoying bastards up there. But since your so worried about it," he turned towards the swarm. "Guys, mind taking us back to where you got them?"

The Unown all looked at each other for a few moments, coming to a decision. Suddenly, they all heard a pop, and they were back in the forest, exactly where they were originally taken.

"And good riddance to you little bastards!" Derflinger shouted, receiving no answer. He turned back to the surprised and relieved trainers, and nodded. "That's better. Now, I'm sure you have some—"

"Did you really know Brimir?" Louise began to ramble. "What was he like? What was life like six thousand years ago? Did elves eat little children then, too?" Saito and the other Pokémon all looked horrified at Louise's question, but she paid them no heed. "How did you get here? Were you always a Honedge? Were—"

"Whoa, whoa, hold your Ponytas!" Derflinger shouted, halting Louise in her tracks. "One question at a time, geez. Yes, I knew Brimir. Like I said, I was his sword. I was not always a Honedge. I got turned into one, and have been for the past six thousand years. I arrived in, is it still Kalos?" Saito and Louise nodded, and Derflinger nodded back. "Right, I arrived in Kalos after that. No, elves did not eat little children. They never have. Where did you even get that information?"

"… Well, it's what people say," Louise sheepishly replied. Derflinger rolled his eye.

"Geez, you go away for a couple thousand years and the education system runs right into the gutter. As for how I got here and what Brimir was like… I forget."

"How could you forget that!? Forget the Founder?" Louise indignantly shouted.

"Hey, you try being dormant for six thousand years and not forgetting anything!"

"Yeah, Louise, people forget stuff." Saito chastised the exasperated rosette. "Seriously."

"Really!?"

"Pipe down, pinky. Geez," Derflinger shook his body. "I do remember a few things about Brimir though, now that I think about it. Want to hear them?"

"Yes, please!" Louise looked starry-eyed.

"Well, sit down. This one is _quite_ the doozy of a tale."

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Sorry for the long wait, last week was hectic. But, better late than ever!

So, everyone's favorite talking sword is now introduced, and its Derflinger! As a Honedge! He was always planned to be in the story. After all, we just _not_ going to make the talking sword character into a talking sword Pokémon. It would be insulting.

At the same time, Espirit is showing more of a backbone and both she and Maindo are more like their trainers than either realized.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **reven4221** : I'm glad you like the story and gave it a shot! It means a lot to us. And yeah, Louise's Void Magic wasn't all that useful against the Unown, really. But it woke up Derflinger from his nap, at least.

 **MBenz4268** : I honestly have no idea where any of the Pokémon regions are placed. Poke-Earth doesn't exactly have a globe or world map. Oh well. And as for what the Unown were up to, you just got your answer!

 **Sakura Linsel** : Yeah, sorry about that. As I said earlier, last week was hectic. Will try to have the next chapter up by Sunday.

 **MasterXMaster** : Thank you! We are also on Sufficient Velocity. That thread is run by Firebird Zoom. Give it some love!

That does it for this chapter. See you all next time! Hopefully, it goes back on schedule.


	26. Season 1, Episode 6, Chapter 6

**Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)**

 **Season 1, Episode 6, Chapter 6**

 **[~][~]**

Allie stood beside herself in solace of her room. She was wearing the last good dress she had, although it was tightly snug around her body. Comes with it being a size too small. The discomfort was ignored, though. She had bigger concerns at the moment concerning a few pests. As she brooded, Allie heard a knock on her door, and she quickly walked over and opened it.

"Did you find them?" she immediately asked, not in the mood for pleasantries. In front of her, Rose awkwardly shuffled her dress and crossed her hands in front of her waist.

"My Lady, Swablu has returned and has spotted Mr. Hiraga and Ms. Valliere," she announced. Allie's face blossomed into a wicked smile.

" _Excellent_. Have my Pokémon ready shortly," Allie declared then turned around in a huff, leaving the door open. Snow sighed and turned to leave, but a cough from the Princess stopped her in her tracks. "And Rose?"

"… Yes, Princess?"

"You really need to work on who gets allowed into the palace. We'll be having a discussion after this is over." Allie waved her hand. "Off you go."

"Of course, Princess." Snow bowed and gently closed to door behind her. She walked away silently, leaving the mahogany doors of Allie's room behind her, fuming and ruffling a crumpled piece of paper in her pocket.

"There won't _be_ a discussion after," she grumbled as she found her sister, holding an identical piece of paper in her hands.

* * *

"- And the sorcerer declared 'The Aristocrats'!" Derflinger finished. "That was Brimir's favorite dirty joke. Ah, gets me every time…"

A heavy silence hung over the group as everyone stared at the Honedge with blank expressions. Louise's eye was twitching relentlessly, and a thick vein was bulging on her forehead.

"You… You dirty…perverted…BLASPHEMER!" Louise shrieked. "How DARE you defile the Holy Founder like-!"

"Heh," she heard a faint chuckle and Louise turned her head sharply. The laugh had come from Saito, who was busy fighting back more chuckles. Soon, his control broke and he collapsed into a fit of uproarious laugher, followed by his Pokémon.

"STOP LAUGHING!" she demanded, only to be met with more laugher.

"Lighten up, lady," Derflinger laughed. "You wanted to know about Brimir, so I told you about him."

"I wanted to know about Brimir! His exploits, his personality, his life! Not what…that was!" Louise stomped on the ground. "No, I refuse to believe that the Founder would stoop to such depravity!"

"Well, he did." Derflinger quickly replied, causing Louise to sputter. "By the way, you keep calling him the Founder. What's up with that?"

"HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT?!" Louise shrieked even louder than before. Before she could continue to berate the confused Honedge, Saito finally calmed himself and grabbed her shoulder. "LET GO OF ME!"

"Okay, I think its time for someone to sit down for a bit and calm down, okay?" Saito soothed her and led her to a nearby fallen log. At first, she resisted and continued to glare at Derflinger, but she eventually relented and sat down with her arms crossed. "Sorry about that."

"Bit of a spitfire, ain't she?"

"Yeah, but she's not all bad," Saito shot Louise a smirk, only to be met by an angry glare. "Don't mind her. It's just…from what I can tell, this Brimir guy was very important back home. Still wrapping my head around it, to be honest."

"Eh, don't think too hard about it. Still confused about the whole 'Founder' thing. Mind explain that one to me?"

"Well," Saito looked to Louise, and judging by the huff and glare she gave off, she was in no mood to answer. "I'm not an expert, but from what Louise told me, Brimir was the guy who made Louise's home the way it was as well as protect them from…I think the elves? Did I get that right?" They looked back at Louise, who now had a glaring Brennaraki in her arms.

"…You skipped over the finer details," she finally spoke. "Brimir wasn't just the first Void mage. From him, everything in Halkegenia was born. He created magic, the royal families are all descended from him, liberated our home of the spirits that threatened us, and from him the magocracy was born. A true prophet of the gods and we owe everything to him."

"Magocracy?" Derflinger asked, confusion drenching his voice. Louise raised her eyebrow but continued on.

"As decreed by the gods, those who have magic are fit to rule, while those without serve. It's been that way for the past six thousand years, ever since Brimir-"

"That is the biggest load of bull-crap I've ever heard!" Honedge interrupted Louise's sermon. "Who told you that?"

"Wh… What?" Louise was dumbfounded.

"I may not remember much from back then, but I would certainly remember Brimir being told by the gods that a 'magocracy' was the way to go. Hell, the only time I remember meeting a god was when we met Arceus and that…" Derflinger went silent. "Okay, I don't _exactly_ remember what happened, but it certainly didn't end with him telling Brimir to rule over the non-magical natives we found in Halkegenia."

"The commoners were natives?" Saito asked, intrigued by this information. "Louise made it sound like they were always there?"

"No, Brimir's tribe, the Markey, come from somewhere else. I think they were…fleeing somewhere, but I can't remember why." Derflinger tapped the top of his cross-guard with his sash. "What was it? Natural disaster? War? Famine? What ever it was, it was bad. First, they went to Idun, which was already home to the Elves—"

"You meant the Holy Land?" Louise finally spoke up, her curiosity overriding her indignation. "We were taught that Brimir and his people hailed from there until the Elves cruelly and forcibly expelled us with their Firstborne magic, with the First Crusade being done in an attempt to retake our homeland."

"Well, I wasn't there for whatever this 'Crusade' was, but I do remember that the Elves did kick Brimir and the Markey out."

"But you don't remember why?" Louise dryly finished the sword's sentence, her indignation coming back up.

"Again, six thousand years, give or take a few centuries. Don't sound so surprised." Derflinger shook his body.

"Didn't you want to hear stuff about Brimir's life, anyway?" Saito pointed out. "Sure, he has gaps in his memory, but its better than nothing, right?"

"What he's saying is heretical! Were someone to say this, they'd have Inquisitors at their door!"

"You keep talking about this 'church'," the Honedge butted back in. "Mind explaining that to me?"

"The Church was founded by Brimir to carry out his will and maintain the proper order in Halkegenia," Louise irritably explained. "How do you not know this!?"

"…Because Brimir didn't make any church?" Derflinger looked at Saito then back at a now flabbergasted Louise. "At least not when I was there. Certainly not one that declared him a prophet. Sure, he had a bit of an ego, but not to that extent. Now his _apprentice_ , he was something else. Never liked him. Egomania and ambition never make good bedfellows."

"Maybe he made the church and raised Brimir up to be a prophet to secure power?" Saito suggested, earning an offended look from Louise while Derflinger's hilt bobbed up and down.

"Hmm, makes sense. He always did strike me as the type of guy who—"

"THAT'S IT!" Louise shot up to her feet. "I won't hear any of this anymore! Stop disrespecting the Founder, you stupid sword! Saito, stop encouraging it!" Before any of them could answer, Louise turned around and stomped off in a huff, leaving the two behind.

"…Well, I can tell she's a handful," Derflinger observed as Louise's pink hair disappeared into the foliage.

"Give her some slack. You basically just told her everything she's known was a lie." Saito shook his head. "She'll calm down in a bit. Probably after blowing up a tree or two."

"She does that? Seems kinda violent."

"Better than the alternative."

* * *

" _So,_ " Tanuki asked as he and the other Pokémon watched Saito and Derflinger continue to converse, " _what do you think of him?_ "

' _I think he's…nice?_ ' Espirit suggested, trying to find the right words to describe the Honedge

" _You do realize that we were kidnapped because of him, right?_ " Brennaraki dryly pointed out, causing Espirit to bashfully look down.

' _I know but…he_ was _genuine when he apologized for it. As were the Unown, so he's not all bad._ ' Espirit started. ' _Besides, Derflinger even gave Louise some information about her home. That has to mean something.'_

' _Oh come on! You guys can't tell me that you actually believe any of this?_ ' Maindo yelled drawing their attention to him, _"You know that he's a ghost, right? He must have found out about her delusions and decided it be funny to mess with her."_

Brennaraki narrowed her eyes at the outburst. _"If that's the case, how did Derflinger find out about her story in the first place?"_

 _'Easy, he was surrounded by Unown! They simply read her mind and passed the information on to him for laughs.'_

 _"Well, how do you explain the explosions then? Those certainly aren't a 'figment' of her imagination."_

 _'I don't know! Maybe she just keeps a load of grenades up her ass and throws them around whenever she's in a bad mood,_ ' Maindo growled out, _'And as impossible as that sounds, it's still a better explanation than saying she gained the personal interest of Arceus Himself and He took her from another world and dropped her off here!'_

After a short silence with Maindo and Brennaraki glaring at each other, Aile spoke up. " _Regardless, I feel bad for Louise._ " Aile turned to look towards the direction Louise had stormed off. " _First thing she's seen of home and it turns out to be…him._ " Everyone turned to look towards Saito and Derflinger once again, still engrossed in their conversation.

"So, Brimir had four Familiars?" Saito asked. The two of them had been talking about a variety of subjects related to Louise's home, with Derflinger answering whatever questions he could remember the answers to. "Louise told me mages in her country only had one?"

"Yep, he had four," Derflinger nodded. "The thing is, a Familiar is supposed to serve as the mage's protector of sorts. Help 'em out, keep enemies at bay, that sort of stuff. Most spells take only a few seconds to cast, at most maybe a minute. Void spells don't work like that. Most take _minutes_ of chanting and intense concentration just to have one go off."

"Which leaves the mage open."

"Exactly. So, as Brimir was the first Void mage, he needed that much more protection. But, an animal wouldn't do. He needed a Familiar to be independent, smart, and capable of making its own decisions in order to better protect him while he casted. So, he chose to make his Familiars people."

"That seems…kind of skiffy."

"Eh, all the people he did it to were volunteers, but I could see how it could come across like that." Derflinger acquiesced.

"So, these Void Familiars… Did they have any special abilities or something? To make them stand out?"

"They did, but I can only remember the one I worked with."

"Gandalfr, right?" Saito remembered.

"That's the one. The Gandalfr. 'The Left Hand of God'," Derflinger nodded once again. "The Gandalfr rune had a special Void enchantment embedded within that gave the Familiar instant mastery of any weapon. You could take a person with absolutely no combat experience, give 'em the Gandalfr rune and any weapon they pick up is like they've been practicing with it for a century."

"Wow," Saito breathed in amazement. He and Derflinger continued to converse between themselves while the Pokémon turned their attention away.

" _He and Saito seem to be getting along,_ " Ronin observed, his arms crossed as he sat Butterfree style.

' _They are,_ ' Maindo agreed. A heavy silence descended over the group as they continued to watch the two's conversation. ' _I still don't trust him._ '

" _You don't trust anyone,_ " Tanuki responded with a glare, ignoring how he concurred with the assessment.

' _Oh, I trust a lot of Pokémon,_ ' Maindo shot back. ' _But I don't trust anyone who thinks it's funny to feed into the delusions of someone who should be locked up in a psychiatric ward._ ' He pointed towards Derflinger, ' _Just watch. Sooner or later, he's going to trip up and when he does, I reserve the right to say I told you so._ '

' _But I don't think they're lies,_ ' Espirit softly spoke. ' _Not entirely. Much of it he actually doesn't remember. But others…it's like he_ wants _to forget but can't._ '

At Espirit's words, everyone turned back towards the Honedge, each wondering just what the Honedge was hiding and trying to forget.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight," Derflinger looked straight at Saito, his eye boring into Saito's, "you meet up with pinky in the middle of the woods, proceed to beat her up, feel bad, try to help her find this 'Gym Leader', she almost gets you killed, and you decide to keep helping her?"

"That's a very…," Saito paused, trying to find the right word, "…blunt way of putting it, but yes."

Derflinger stared silently at the boy, who was growing increasingly uncomfortable at the attention he was receiving. Finally, the Honedge spoke. "And you did this because…?"

"Because she needed the help," Saito stated without hesitation. Derflinger continued to stare.

"…And nothing else? Nothing at all?"

"…no?" Saito was now fully confused. His confusion increased when Derflinger began to chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, kid." Derflinger shook his body. "So, mind explaining to me just what this whole 'Pokémon League' thing is and why you two are so worked up about it?"

Saito smiled, happy to move the conversation to a more familiar topic. "It's this big tournament that's held every year in Kalos, and you—"

"I got that part," Derflinger interrupted. "What I'm asking is why do you two care so much about what is basically a fancy belt and cup?"

"I…well," Saito paused and cupped his chin. He hadn't really thought about it deeply before. After a few moments of silence, he began to speak. "For me, it's a chance to prove myself. To do something I didn't have the opportunity to do when I was younger. Most people do a Pokémon journey when they're ten. I missed that boat by seven years."

"They wouldn't let 'ya?" Derflinger guessed, but Saito shook his head.

"It wasn't that, we just kept moving. Didn't stay in one place long enough for me to actually start. I was born in Unova, and spent most of my life there, but due to my father's job, for the past seven years we've had to move constantly from one region to another. I've been to Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, then finally Unova again, all over the course of seven years. When we finally moved back to Unova, we thought I'd finally have my chance, so I took it, only to have to move again a month after I started." Saito grew silent. "At that point, I was just done and the first chance I got to continue where I left off, I took it."

"So, to you, the Pokémon League is a lost opportunity, a chance to experience something you missed out on while your peers left you behind." Derflinger summarized, and Saito nodded. "What about pinky? Why does she want the belt?"

"Because it's proof," a feminine voice rang out, causing Saito and Derflinger to swivel towards the sound. There they saw Louise standing with her arms crossed, her face flat and serious.

"Proof?" Derflinger's eyelid narrowed. "Proof of what?"

"That I'm not a failure." Everyone grew silent as Louise spoke. "Winning the League and becoming Champion is the ultimate proof that I'm worth my title. Worth my status as a mage. That is why I will win the Pokémon League."

Derflinger grew silent, continuing to stare at Louise. "I can understand that. Winning tournaments is always a good way to prove how strong you are." Louise smiled at Derflinger's words. "But who exactly are you trying to prove?"

Louise's smile disappeared. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Are you trying to prove yourself to others, like Arceus, your family, and your classmates who Saito described as jerks, or are you trying to prove something to yourself?"

Louise grew silent as everyone stared at her. Without saying a word, she turned around and walked off. As she walked away, Saito and Derflinger looked at each other.

"I should…probably go after her." Saito rubbed the back of his neck and began to walk after her, his and her Pokémon following him.

"I think I'll join you guys," Derflinger announced, floating up to Saito. He stared at the Honedge then shrugged, not minding his presence. Besides, he liked their little conversations.

* * *

"Stupid sword," Louise grumbled to herself as she stomped through the woods. She could hear the others behind her but paid them no heed. "Who does he think he is, talking to me like that? I need to prove something to myself? _He_ needs to prove something to _himself_ , that's what's actually going on."

"You know we can hear you, right?" she heard Derflinger shout from the back, and she groaned in response.

"Why are you still here?" she demanded, not ceasing her stride.

"'Cuz I want to, that's why," Derflinger replied. Once again, Louise could practically see the smirk he would be giving off, and she groaned again.

"That's not a reason," she retorted. "Why are you actually here? Really? We woke you up after, what six thousand years? By all accounts, you should want to simply leave and see the world you've missed. So why stick around and annoy me?"

Derflinger rolled his eye. "Well, _excuse_ me for finding the first thing from home in roughly six millennia and wanting to stick close to it. I'm a sword, not a golem. I have a feelings, you know, and I get homesick."

At this, Louise stopped, her back still turned towards the Honedge. She could understand that sentiment. Deep down, she felt the same way, but didn't want to admit it.

"…Aren't swords usually not alive at all?" Saito quietly pointed out, causing Derflinger to chuckle.

"I'm a very special sword." Derflinger's declaration got a chuckle out of Saito and a roll of the eyes from Louise.

"Well, seeing how we can't get rid of you," she said as she turned around towards them, "what's our next move?"

Derflinger stared at Louise, his eye unblinking. "…I'm not sure I follow…?" Louise groaned and grabbed her face.

"I mean, what—" she stopped mid-sentence. Off in the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of white and blue among a sea of green.

"Louise? Louise, what's wrong?" Saito asked, coming up towards her.

"I thought I saw something," she answered, her eyes trained on the spot where she saw it. "Something white and blue. Small."

"A Pokémon?"

"Maybe." Saito stared towards the trees. "Maindo, Tanuki, you guys see anything?" He looked towards his Pokémon, who's eyes were scrunched in concentration. After a while, Tanuki looked up, his eyes wide in surprise, and nodded. "How many?" Images flashed through his head, and after a moment realized they came from Maindo.

"What'd they say?" she asked, and Saito groaned.

"Perfect, just perfect."

"What? What is it?"

"It's the Princess." As soon as the words lift his mouth, the blue and white Pokémon came back into view. It was a small blue bird with while fluffy wings. To Louise, they looked like clouds. Curious, and feeling as though she would need the information, she pulled out her Pokédex.

"What the heck is that?" Derflinger asked, eyeing the strange device.

" _Swablu, the Cotton Bird Pokémon. Using its cottony wings, Swablus routinely clean themselves and their surroundings from dirt and grime. When its wings get dirty themselves, it will wash them in a stream of freshwater._ "

"Oh, well that's neat. Mind scanning me next time? I'm curious as to what it says about me."

"A Swablu," Louise muttered, ignoring the sword's request. A Flying/Normal-type, one that was owned. "If I were a spoiled princess..."

"Then I'd go for the fanciest Pokémon around," Saito finished her sentence, glaring at the three Pokémon who likely caused their upcoming predicament. Derflinger noticed this and turned towards the three pranksters.

"Just what did you three do?" he asked. Aile let out a mumbled chirp alongside Tanuki's mumbled bark. "Ha! That sounds hysterical! Really, really _stupid_ , but hysterical."

"Wait, you can understand them?" Louise asked, and Derflinger looked at her as though she suddenly sprouted a second head.

"Of course, I can understand them. I'm a Honedge, remember?" He rolled his eye while Louise sputtered, then turned towards the Swablu, who was flying away. "Something tells me that she'll be back with friends. Now, we can do one of two things. One, we can have the Ralts teleport us out, but that would, in effect, be letting her win. Two, we roll out the welcome mat. Is that still a phrase now?"

"It is, and I agree." Saito nodded. "We'll try to defuse the situation first, but if she escalates, its better to be prepared. Louise?" The others all turned towards Louise, who was silently glaring at her Pokémon for her ill-conceived notion from before. After a moment, she sighed and nodded.

"Okay." Louise declared, knowing how this was going to end.

* * *

The two trainers sat on a nearby log with the three perpetrators for several minutes in silence. They all knew what was coming, that the Princess was likely not the type to accept an apology for their actions, but it didn't hurt to try. Finally, they began to hear the sound of footsteps coming towards them and the bushes were parted by the two maid sisters, allowing the Princess to pass through without a single leaf touching her body. Silently, she glared at the two trainers, with them silently standing up in opposition.

"You...two…ingrates!" Allie growled at Saito and Louise. "I let you into my home, and you reward my generosity by having your Pokémon torment me?!"

"Princess Allie," Louise calmly stated, forcing herself to remain polite, "that was not our doing. Maindo, here, stayed behind for some reason and we sent Tanuki and Aile to get him back. For some reason I cannot possibly fathom," she glared at the three Pokémon in question, with Aile and Tanuki looking sheepish while Maindo looked unrepentant, "they decided to torment you. I wish to formally extend our sincerest apologies for their actions. They were inexcusable, and recent, subsequent events have convinced them to never do so again."

"Trust us, they have every reason not to anymore." Saito nodded, crossing his hands in front of his waist.

"Does it look like I care if you sent them or if they are sorry?!" Allie spat back, her face warped into a smile. "You all crossed me, and _that_ demands retribution! I am here to collect." Louise and Saito remained silent before sighing in resignation.

"Well, we tried." She shook her head and steeled herself, as did Saito and the Pokémon next to them. From the trees around them, the other Pokémon and Derflinger made themselves known, all staring at Allie with an intense glare. With an animalistic growl, Allie pulled out Luxury Balls of her own and began to toss them out in quick succession.

"Furfrou! Swablu! Milotic! Arcanine! Honedge! Dratini" Allie yelled as the Pokémon were released from their balls, and Louise and Saito's eyes narrowed. The Furfrou and Swablu were familiar to them, having already seen the poodle and cottony bird, but the others they had not. The Arcanine was a large orange and black dog, the largest they had ever seen. Smoke billowed out of its mouthing, telling Louise that this was a Fire-type. She would have to leave it to Ronin. The Milotic was a long, slender serpent, covered in radiant scales. It was majestic and beautiful, but now was not the time to marvel at its beauty. She remembered seeing it lounging in the fountain back at the palace, telling her it was a Water-type. Brennaraki could not fight it. Too much of a disadvantage. Like the Milotic, the Dratini was a serpent like creature, only much shorter and covered in blue and white scales, horn like appendages on the sides of its head. They reminded her of a crown, of sorts. She didn't need to guess what type it was. Back at Sycamore's lab, the Dratini line was the poster child of Dragon-types. What was most fascinating to her was the Princess' Honedge. It looked much different than the one she and Saito had met not an hour before. Whereas Derflinger looked like a standard short sword in a sheath, the Princess' looked like a rapier. Saito had noticed it as well and glanced towards Derflinger.

"Hey, Derf?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of Allie and her Pokémon. "Why does that Honedge look different than you?"

"Honedges can make themselves look like any sword they want, given that they have a strong connection to the form. You can only do it once, though, and it takes a _lot_ of effort," Derflinger said, causing Allie, the maids, and their Pokémon to recoil and shock. His eye then lidded as he looked at the other Honedge and spoke once again, his voice now much deeper. "I must say, though, I can appreciate the form." Silence descended on the group as they all stared at Derflinger.

"…Did you just…?" Saito began to say, completely flabbergasted. A faint giggle was then heard, and everyone's eyes shot towards the other Honedge, who continued to giggle. Saito then looked back at a surprised Derflinger.

"I, uh…I didn't think this through. I didn't think I'd get this far."

"You think?" Louise asked with a bewildered expression. Before Derflinger could respond, Allie began to stomp her feet repeatedly.

"Stop it, stop it, stop it!" she flailed and threw a tantrum. "I did not come here just to have my family's Honedge get flirted on by some talking piece of rust! Milotic, Water Sport!" At once, Milotic cooed and released a fine mist of water from her body, enveloping everyone in droplets of water. Soon after, both sides rocket towards each other as the battle commenced. Shadow Balls, Air Slashes, and Water Pulses shot forward from the trainer's Pokémon towards the Princess', many finding their mark. Brennaraki attempted to fire off an Ember towards the enemy Honedge, only for the fireball to rapidly diminish in strength as it zoomed towards the Steel/Ghost-type, eventually dissipating entirely before it even had the chance to strike.

" _Damn this water!_ " she cursed as she realized what the going on. The mist secreted from Milotic was making her Fire-type attacks much weaker. She leapt out of the way from the Milotic's Water Pulse as it bared down on her, and she narrowed her eyes. " _Okay, time to try something different._ " Brennaraki concentrated and shot off a Psybeam towards the Milotic, striking her in the head. The serpent recoiled then glared back at the fox before whipping its tail at her, enveloped in a sheath of water. She leapt over it and fired another Psybeam at the Milotic, who shrieked and charged her.

Above them, Aile and the Swablu engaged in an aerial duel of beaks and wings. They clashed against one another, pecking and slamming their bodies into one another whenever and wherever they could. As they were doing this, Aile was steadily releasing a Tailwind to help her teammates while at the same using Agility to boost her speed even more. Already as fast as she was comfortable going, she turned into a blur as she raced towards the Swablu with Quick Attack. Her body slammed into Swablu beak first, causing the cottony bird to cry out in pain and flutter away. Glaring at the Fletchling, Swablu sang out with Round, creating a shockwave that assaulted Aile's ears. As Aile writhed in pain, Swablu charged and slammed its body into Aile's with Take Down, sending her crashing into the floor with a gasp of pain. She struggled to pick herself off her feet, only for Swablu to race back down towards her. Thinking fast, Aile flapped her wings towards the Swablu, creating razors of wind that rocketed towards the surprised Swablu like swords, buffeting its body and sending it crashing to the forest floor.

" _Oh, sweet! Finally got Razor Wind working!_ " Aile congratulated herself before releasing yet another barrage towards the downed Swablu. The bird cried out in pain as the Razor Wind struck its body before it managed to flutter away once more. Aile narrowed her eyes as it departed into the canopy.

" _Oh, you aren't getting away that easily,_ " she said as she sped towards the retreating Swablu.

Back on the ground, Espirit and Maindo were tag teaming against the Dratini, their Fairy-types making its Dragon-type attacks useless and Espirit's Misty Terrain prevent paralysis from its Thunder Wave. Maindo cackled evilly as the blue flames of Dragon Rage washed harmlessly over his small body, charging up a Shadow Ball in the process and launching it towards the Dragon Pokémon. Dratini twisted its body around the sphere, allowing it to pass harmlessly through before she launched her body towards Maindo and wrapped him into a tight coil.

' _Get off of me!_ " he yelled in indignation, beginning to assault her mind with Confusion. Dratini squealed in pain but fought through it, tightening her body around Maindo's, making him yell in pained alarm and halting the psychic assault. Dratini cooed in relief and continued to squeeze, only for another Confusion to strike her, making her recoil. As she did, Espirit psychically grabbed nearby leaves off the trees, imbuing them with energy, and launched the Magical Leaf towards her. The leaves cut into the Dratini's body and make her loosen her grip slightly. It was enough for Maindo to finally concentrate enough to Teleport away with a loud pop, reappearing right next to Espirit and joining in on the assault with a Confusion of his own. The Dratini wailed as Espirit teleported atop her head and gently kissed the dragon's forehead. Pink veins appeared at the point of contact and made it flail even more before she whipped her tail at Espirit, launching her away with a yelp. Maindo helped her up to her feet before attacking the Dratini again, Maindo shooting a Shadow Ball and Espirit releasing a Disarming Voice.

Ronin was currently occupying himself with taking down Arcanine. It appeared that it evolved far to early in its life, as it wasn't as strong as it should have been. Arcanines, after all, were a strong species, yet this one wasn't able to launch more than Embers and other simple attacks. If Ronin had to guess, Allie must have gotten the Growlith then immediately used a Fire Stone on it. Coupled with Milotic's Water Sport from earlier weakening its attacks, the battle was going remarkably well. That wasn't to say it was going perfectly, as Ronin was quickly reminded as a large paw struck him and sent him flying. He landed on his back then rolled onto his feet, grabbed his scalchop mid-roll, then launched a Razor Wind towards the Arcanine. It struck, making the creature wince briefly before growling. It launched towards Ronin, who dodged while forming a Water Pulse and shooting it into the Arcanine's body. The water caused it to cry out in pain before it snarled and tried to bite Ronin. Using his scalchop, he kept the snapping jaws away from him and, using it as a wedge, prevented the jaws from closing. He then shot a jet of water into the Fire-type's mouth, and the Arcanine's eyes bulged as the Water Gun filled his insides. He roiled and sputtered, gushes of water spewing from his mouth with each hack, until Ronin struck him again with a Razor Shell, sending him to the ground.

Tanuki had launched himself towards Furfou almost immediately, attacking the poodle with a glowing paws of steel and Aura. Each strike hit true against the Normal-type, rocking her body back in forth. Furfrou jumped back and kicked dirt into the Riolu's eyes, forcing him to stop his assault as he attempted to remove the obstruction. Seeing its chance, Furfrou tackled Tanuki to the ground, biting him in the arm and hoisting him into the air, intending to slam him back onto the ground. Instead, Tanuki twisted himself as Furfrou swung downward, landing on his feet, his arm still held in Furfrou's jaws. Surprised, Furfrou bit down again, only for Tanuki to glow red just as the jaws clamped down. Furfrou was suddenly launched back as it received the force of the bite instead of Tanuki. Taking advantage of this respite, Tanuki sped towards the poodle with Quick Attack, striking his opponent then immediately moving to a series of punches and kicks, ending with one final Meteor Mash that launched Furfrou into a nearby tree, cracking it. The poodle slumped and did not get back up. He smirked then moved to join Brennaraki against the Milotic, intercepting a Water Pulse and allowing the fire fox to launch another Psybeam.

"Furfrou!" Allie shouted in alarm as she saw her Pokémon get defeated. She then glared at Saito and Louise, who were busy issuing commands to their various Pokémon. She grit her teeth as she realized similar events were playing around the battlefield. Her Pokémon were all being beaten back, Saito and Louise's Pokémon being much better trained. She turned towards Rose and Snow with a snarl.

"Don't just stand there!" she shouted. "Attack them!"

"Actually, I've been meaning to tell you this for a while, and now's a good a time as any." Snow smiled and pulled out a piece of paper, as did Rose. "We quit."

"WHAT!?" Allie shouted indignantly as the two maids bowed one final time and walked away.

"Have fun getting your ass kicked!" Snow called out as she walked away, Rose silently extending a middle finger towards the Princess as they disappeared into the underbrush.

"Why those little-!" Allie sputtered.

"That's why you treat the help nice," Louise called out, a confident smirk on her face. "Otherwise, that happens, and good help is hard to come by."

"Shut up!" Allie shouted back, her face flushed with rage and embarrassment. Things were not going to plan at all. A clash of metal on metal then attracted her attention. She turned towards the sound and saw the two Honedges dueling, and she smirked.

"I hope your Honedge can stand up to mine," she laughed. "She's been in our family for generations! Nothing has been able to beat her!"

"Oh, is that so?" Derflinger asked as she parried the rapier's stab. "Well, I can certainly see her skill and grace in her movements. They are a sight to behold."

" _Oh, monsieur Derflinger, you are too kind_ ," Honedge giggled as she slashed towards him yet again. " _I must say, though, it has been quite some time since I've had such a good fight. Not since my bout with my former master, Jean Pierre, have I witness such skill. Still, it is no match for moi_."

"He must have been skilled," Derflinger responded as he swung downward at the other Honedge, who nimbly dodged. "He taught you well."

" _He was a great fencer, and a great friend._ " She sighed in remembrance as her body began to glow and chime. " _Come on!_ " she cried as she began to move once again, her movements much faster than before, yet at the same time less weighty.

"Automatize," Derflinger mused to himself as he parried another stab. His eye narrowed as the other Honedge launched into a series of rapid strikes, forcing him on the backfoot and forcing him back. He couldn't help but internally smile, though. This battle was enjoyable, and he could see why the kids liked it so much. Really got the blood pumping.

"I see you're a speed fighter," he said as he took another hit, slashing at her as he did. "Personally, I'm a heavy hitter." He slashed once more at his opponent, her lowered mass making the strike hit much harder than before. She flew back before readjusting, her eye staring into his.

" _Well then, allow me to even the scales._ " She flew into a Swords Dance, her blade sharpening as she went. Derflinger narrowed his eyes before doing the same, bits of rust flaking off of him as he did. As they finished, they launched back towards one another, metal striking metal and sending off sparks with each strike. Derflinger winced with each blow, but a quick look told him that his strikes were affecting his opponent much more than hers was to him. He was winning.

"Well, Honedge, I must say that I've enjoyed our fight," parried another blow and struck her handle, spinning her in space, "but I'm afraid it must now end." He then cleaved downward, sending her crashing into the ground with a small crater and a cloud of dust. As the dust settled and cleared, Derflinger saw her eye had closed. She was done.

"No, NO!" Allie screeched and grabbed tufts of her hair. All around her, her Pokémon began to fall one by one. Swablu crashed into the ground as Aile fluttered overhead, Milotic slumped down as Tanuki and Brennaraki tag-teamed her, Dratini being sent flying into a tree from the two Fairy-types' assault. A final Water Pulse knocked Arcanine onto his side and he did not get back up. With that, she done, and her Pokémon were all defeated.

"Yes!" Louise and Saito cheered and congratulated their Pokémon at a job well done.

"You…you…" she sputtered, tears building in her eyes. "WAAGH!" she collapsed onto her legs and began to wail, tears running down her cheeks as she cried and stopping the other's jubilation. They looked at each other awkwardly, unsure of what to do and growing increasingly uncomfortable with her cries. Finally, Louise stood straighter and marched over.

"Hey," she began, halting Allie's wails. "Is that any way for a Princess to act? Your supposed to be dignified and regal, not acting like a spoiled child."

"But—"

"No," Louise interrupted, continuing to lecture. "A Princess is regal. She does not lower herself to acting like this. She is supposed to be above national standards, not so far below them that she debases the entire institution of nobility. You are a noble, so start acting like it."

Without saying another word, she turned and walked back to her Pokémon. "Espirit, before we leave, please heal all of her Pokémon."

"You sure about that?" Saito asked with a raised eyebrow. "She did attack us."

"I know. But this is how nobility is supposed to act." She looked back down onto Espirit, not noticing Derflinger's approving nod.

"Well, I suppose she's not entirely helpless," he murmured to himself before noticing the other Honedge slowly begin to rise into the air. "Need some help there?"

" _No thank you, monsieur. I am more than capable of floating on my own power_ ," she relied and steadily rose before stopping, noticeably lower than before. " _I must say, I haven't had a fight like that in eighty years. Not since I helped the king in the Great War._ "

"I'm glad to have provided you with a challenge, then," Derflinger said. "Now that we aren't trying to beat each other up, I have to ask. I don't think I caught your name. Ms.?"

" _Requiem_ ," the Honedge responded. " _It was the name of Monsieur Pierre's sword long ago. I took it after…after he died a hundred and sixty years ago, now._ "

"I'm sorry. It always hurts to lose a partner."

" _You know that feeling well, don't you?_ " Requiem looked at him, seeing the pain in his eye. " _Still, he went out as a hero, as he always was. Stopped a group of people from controlling Groudon. They were trying to expand the landmass of their kingdom, not caring or knowing about the destruction they would have wrought. We stopped them, but he died in the process of saving countless lives, both human and Pokémon._ "

"A life is the most precious thing in the world. At least he gave his in the defense of others." Derflinger grew silent again as he looked upon the two trainers heal their Pokémon, while Espirit continued to heal their opponents. Requiem gazed upon them as well.

" _You sense it too, don't you? The feeling that important events will swirl around them?_ "

"…Yes. Yes I do."

" _You know that many such events are likely to be dangerous? Life threatening, in some cases?"_

"I know."

" _Is that why you are going to stay with them, rather than rejoin the royal family you served alongside all those years ago?_ " Derflinger looked at her, puzzled, and she giggled. " _I recognized you from the paintings on the palace walls. You have a very distinct look and aura about you. Very regal._ "

"Thank you. You yourself as poised as ever," he flirted back, making her giggle. "But, I'm sure that the Kalos family is more than protected behind your capable eye and blade."

" _I suppose you are right,_ " she admitted then flew back over to Allie. " _I appreciate getting to know you, Monsieur Derflinger. May we meet again, under more pleasant circumstances._ "

"Likewise," he nodded back towards her then flew to Louise and Saito. They all looked at each other then left, leaving Allie behind with her Pokémon without saying a word.

* * *

"So, I've been giving it some thought," Derflinger began as they all walked towards Camphrier, "and I've decided that sticking around you guys is the best bet. After all, I do want to see the region I've missed out on for the past six thousand years, and since you guys seem intent on doing just that, I might as well join in."

"Sure!" Saito smiled. "We'd be happy to have you!"

"Ugggh," Louise groaned. "Fine. If you two are insistent in him staying, you two can be on the same team. I'm not wasting one of my slots on him."

"Well, aren't you just cheery." Derflinger laughed. "Besides, I wasn't going to ask you, anyway."

"WHAT?!"

"I served the Gandalfr, not the Void Mage. The partner to the Void mage, if you will. Since it is obvious that you aren't going to have a familiar, lest you risk Arceus' wrath, that means that I have to do the next best thing. Saito, you are that next best thing."

"…Thank you?"

"You are welcome. Now, tell me, how does this work exactly?"

* * *

Elsewhere, the sun was setting on a very different scene. Elizabeth slowly strode into a clearing a short distance off of Route 5 and collapsed against a tree, exhausted. She had risen before the dawn to pack the food for the next few days and to say goodbye to the few people who would actually care; then she was off, moving at a brisk clip that she would hold for most of the eight hours it took for her to get here.

"Well, I certainly picked the wrong outfit this morning," Elizabeth said to no one in particular as she observed her sweat-soaked attire. That the teal shift and white skirt were ill-suited to the current weather was obvious, and the fact that every single one of the outfits Elizabeth had packed was just as poorly suited–if not worse–only made it clearer how rushed the whole affair was. And all that was without mentioning the sad condition her hair and makeup were in.

With a sigh, Elizabeth pulled her rucksack off her back and reached inside, quickly withdrawing a trio of Pokéballs and opened them. Try as she might, she couldn't help but grin at the sight of her team, plus one, materializing in front of her. Whatever else she might have done, Elizabeth hadn't lied to Saito when she had said that journeys were best experienced with friends, and she couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't brought them out earlier in her trip. Eevee's flat gaze and subsequent sneeze of disapproval reminded the verdette exactly why she had refrained until now.

Refusing to let the dismissal get to her, Elizabeth stood up and began speaking in the most jovial tone she could manage. "Machamp, why don't you go collect some firewood? Eevee, you can help me set up the tent, just like we did when we were both younger." Eevee huffed and turned away.

"Well, fine! I can just teach Zorua how we used to do it!" Elizabeth huffed, clearly hurt by the rejection. Eevee didn't bother replying.

While the tent was little more than a canvas sheet draped over a rope, the two only barely managed to set it up by the time Machamp returned. With his help, they quickly built a campfire and a tripod, and Elizabeth went to work making their dinner. While it had been years since she had last cooked, the verdette had made a point of memorizing several easy campfire recipes when she was nine, mainly because she thought she would be venturing out into the world on her next birthday. The smell of cooking soup eventually drew Eevee over, and the four shared a meal in quiet contentment.

Elizabeth set her bowl aside and sighed wistfully. "It wasn't my best work, but I guess it was pretty good for being the first thing I cooked in nearly eight years. I guess there are just some things you never… quite… forget…" she trailed off, staring at her left hand.

The rest of the evening passed by in a blur for Elizabeth, until she found herself sitting alone by the dying campfire, heating spindles in the embers before wrapping her locks around them. Everyone else had already gone to bed by that point, so she kicked some dirt into the firepit and just sat there for a while, taking in the stars as they passed overhead and wondering just what the future would bring.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! A lot of things happened here, most importantly Derflinger having joined the main cast. To help emphasize this, he is now a part of the character tags for this story, as he is a very important character in this story.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **ian25rebel** : Yep, Derflinger is now a Honedge. He's our favorite talking sword, after all, and given how Honedges are a thing, we felt it was appropriate.

 **Pacer287** : That was one of the reasons why we wanted to include him. A lot of times in stories, he either isn't really shown or literally copied/pasted from canon. We wanted to expand on him and use him to expand on the FoZ world. For example, we came up with a name for the Holy Land: Idun, after the Norse Goddess of Spring.

That's it for this chapter. We hope you all enjoy!


	27. Season 1, Episode 7, Chapter 1

**Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)**

 **Season 1, Episode 7, Chapter 1**

[~][~]

"I'm not getting in that thing," Derflinger declared at Saito's outstretched Pokéball.

"Look," he awkwardly began, "I know that it looks weird, but—"

"Don't care. You are _not_ making me get into that little ball." Derflinger's tone was final, and Saito sighed. They had been at this song and dance for the past half hour. At first, Saito and Derflinger were excited to officially join each other's teams, at the possibility of working together in battle. Then Saito pulled out a Pokéball, and that excitement evaporated instantly.

"Really, it's not that bad! All the other Pokémon do it!" Saito gestured towards his team.

" _It's really not that bad,_ " Tanuki smiled and nodded. " _Kinda cozy, actually._ "

" _I find it to be a perfect respite, myself,_ " Ronin added.

" _It's cold, dark, and cramped. Every moment inside is a living hell,_ " Maindo dryly stated, earning sharp glares from the others. Maindo merely smirked at the attention, and Saito rolled his eyes. He might not be able to understand the Ralts, but he could read his Pokémon's body language.

"It's not that I think it will be uncomfortable, it's the principle of the damn thing!" Derflinger suddenly shouted, silencing everyone. "You spend the past six thousand years asleep, unable to move, and see how willing you'd be to sit in that tiny thing!"

Saito sighed and put the Pokéball away. If he was being honest with himself, he could understand where Derflinger was coming from. Ever since the first Pokéball was made after the Great War, considerable debate had been waged over the ethicality of their use. Most said they were perfectly harmless, while others felt they were inhumane and cruel. In the end, after decades of study, research, and a number of discussions with telepathic Pokémon, Pokéballs were found to be totally harmless to their occupants, just so long as they weren't left inside for an excessively long time. Granted, that was after several innovations were added to make it more humane and comfortable for the occupant. In the end, the innovations worked and the use of Pokéballs became accepted. Now, only fanatics like Team Plasma and PETP really spoke up about it.

Still, he knew that not all Pokémon liked their Pokéball. Whether it be a sense of constricted movement or desire for the open air, it wasn't for everyone. One of the first things he did after catching his Pokémon was ask whether or not they wanted to stay inside it or not. While Maindo just scoffed in indifference, Ronin and Tanuki both expressed no displeasure. But if Derflinger didn't want to go into the ball, he wasn't going to push the issue.

"Okay, okay," Saito said. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I won't force you to do something you don't want."

"Damn right you won't." Derflinger huffed. "Not like you could force me into one, anyway. I'm still willing to travel with you guys, just…not in one of those things. Not yet, at least. Want to enjoy my freedom for a bit, 'ya know?"

"I understand completely." Saito smiled. He and Derflinger nodded at each other then walked over to Louse, currently sitting on a log and brushing her Pokémon.

"So, did you two figure it out?" she asked, continuing to brush Brennaraki's fur.

"We did," Saito replied. "Derflinger is going to stick around with us but he's not officially joining my team yet."

"Joy…" Louise groaned.

"Hey, chin up, lass! Now, whenever I remember 'em, I can tell you even more about our home!"

"Yay…"

"In fact, one is coming to me right now involving a noble lady's huge tracts of land and the knight who saved her with his great, long sword." Saito could hear the smile Derflinger would be having and shook his head, a slight smirk on his face as Louise started to turn a bright shade of red.

"Derf, stop teasing her," he lightly chastised the Honedge, who rolled his eye. "Now then, let's figure out the more important things. Louise, can you pull up the map?"

"On it." Louise stopped brushing Brennaraki, earning a whine of displeasure from the Fennekin, and pulled out her Pokédex. After a short boot up, the screen filled with a map of Kalos, their position marked by a red dot on Palais Lane.

"Wow, so that thing is an encyclopedia _and_ a map! That is cool!" Derflinger gazed upon the device in awe.

"And useful." Louise let out a smirk. "According to the map, the next gym is in Cyllage City. It's a coastal mountain town right…here." Louise pointed to the city and everyone's eyes followed her finger.

"Hmm, according to this," Saito hummed, "the fastest route is through Connecting Cave, which we can get to by taking Riviere Line."

"Ugggh, do we _have_ to go through a cave?" Louise whined, and Saito patted her shoulder.

"Well, we could take Route 8U and stop off in Ambrette Town. We can then take 8L to Cyllage. It will take us around the cave, so we won't have to buy repels or travel through the night to avoid the Zubats. But, doing this would add a few more weeks to the trip."

"Oh, Zubats were the _worst_!" Derflinger called out. "Always with the biting and swooping and chirping! And there are so many of them!" The Honedge shivered and Saito patted his guard.

"There, there. It'll be fine." Saito stood up alongside Louise, who deactivated her Pokédex and pocketed it. "Let's see how expensive repels are in town before we decide." They returned their Pokémon to their Pokéballs and, together with Derflinger, began to hike down to Camphrier once more.

* * *

The trio had been walking for quite some time when they heard some commotion come from up the road. They continued walking towards it, curiosity on their faces as they wondered who was making the ruckus. Finally, they came across a man wearing sunglasses and wearing a lab coat, a Pidove on his shoulder. Something about him seemed familiar, yet his name escaped the trainers. He, however, seemed to recognize the two as and he turned, smiled, and waved.

"Well, fancy meeting you two here!" The group paused as a vaguely familiar figure called out to them. Saito narrowed his eyes in concentration, trying to place where he had seen the man before.

"Nathan, right?" he said after a few moments.

"The one and only!" Nathan responded with a grin before his expression turned thoughtful. "What are you two doing up here, anyway? Did you get lost and accidentally take Route 6 instead of 7?

"That's... A long story." Louise sighed in exasperation. "What about you? We're quite a ways from Lumiose City."

"Sycamore heard the Pokémon in the area were acting weird and he asked me to investigate since I was nearby." He answered with a shrug and turned to Saito, "Did you happen to run into anything weird that might explain what's going on?"

The pair shared a quick glance and silently decided to share a condensed version of events while Derflinger remained silent. "Well, we did see a few Unown around here. They might have done something."

"Unown?" He narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Are you sure? They're not native to Kalos and there aren't any ruins nearby." Derflinger could feel the man's gaze briefly wash over him but it disappeared as soon as it was felt.

"Absolutely, unless there are any other Pokémon that are black, shaped like letters, and have a single large eye." Louise clarified then shivered. Nathan looked at her, cupping his chin as he hummed in thought.

"Well, that certainly sounds like Unown. I wonder what they are doing here," Nathan trailed off in thought before shrugging and moved to continue on the path. "In any case, I'll see if I can spot a few before I head back. You two be careful."

"We will. Thank you, Nathan." Saito smiled.

"Please say hi to Professor Sycamore for me the next time you see him," Louise politely asked. "I still haven't gotten the phone function to work properly."

"You know I can help you with that, right?" Saito chuckled as he and his companion began to walk away.

"And I told you, I can figure it out myself!" She barked back, making Saito chuckle. Nathan watched them leave then continued up the road. He continued until he was well out of earshot before he spoke up again.

"So, you buying that story?" A soft chirp sounded from the small bird on his shoulder. "Yeah, me neither. What cell do you think she's with? We would know if she was from Dendemille, so that's out." The Pidove replied with a series of chirps as he moved to his arm. "Hmm, didn't even think about her being a leftover of Santalune. Would certainly explain the Beedrill."

The pair continued walking in silence for a while before the Pidove squeaked a question out, to which Nathan sighed. "You know the boss would have our heads if we directly confront her, we can't afford any more mistakes at this point. We're on thin ice as it is." He reached over and started kneading the small Pokémon as it gave him a questioning squeak. "Well, at the very least he would have my head, not quite sure what he would do with you."

Stopping on the path Nathan held his arm out as the bird stood at attention, "Follow them and see if they meet up with any of our friends, I'll make sure Maxwell's not trying to screw us with a fast one out here." The bird squawked out a concerned reply, "Don't worry about me, you know I can take care of myself. Now go, we'll meet up at the Pokémon Center in four hours." With one more squawk in confirmation, the bird took off with a gust of wind leaving Nathan alone in the slowly dimming forest.

* * *

It wasn't long after leaving Nathan behind that Saito and Louise reentered Camphrier Town's city limits. They received a few odd looks from people as they walked towards the PokéMart with a open Honedge floating besides them, but most simply shrugged and moved on. To Louise's relief, Derflinger seemed to be quiet with others around them, giving her a sense of peace.

"Hey, Derf?" Saito asked, breaking Louise's peace with reckless abandon. "You know you can talk around more than just us, right?"

"I know, but I found it to be easier _not_ to talk when so many people are around," Derflinger responded, causing Louise to groan in irritation. "They tend to stare, just like those people are doing right now." He pointed his sash to a group of gawking restaurateurs, their meals left unattended. "That's right, I see what you're doing."

"Uhh," one of the restauranteurs began, "don't mind us. Just…taking it in…" he remained silent and rubbed his eyes.

"Holy crap, a talking Pokémon…" another softly murmured. The others had taken out their cell phones and were beginning to record videos when the trio awkwardly began walking away, leaving the restaurateurs behind.

"Okay, point taken. You don't have to speak if you don't want to," Saito finally said.

"Actually, their reaction was a lot better than what I was expecting. Back then, they would have cried out "Witch!" and tried to burn me."

"That's sounds messed up."

"It was. Luckily, King Kalos put a stop to that. He was a good man."

They continued to walk through the Camphrier streets until they finally arrived in front of the PokéMart. Derflinger elected to stay outside and wait for them while the two trainers shopped around. Once inside, the two separated, each looking for the different supplies they would need. Louise had already grabbed a few items before stopping in the equipment isle, specifically in front of the cave diving selection.

"Hmm," Louise hummed to herself as she browsed the various repels, ropes, and other cave diving equipment. Her eyes immediately gravitated towards the more expensive selections, but she tore her gaze away from them. She would not fall for this place's tricks again. She grabbed a hardhat with a flashlight attached to the top and tuned it over, appraising it through every angle.

"This could be useful," she murmured and tried it on. It fit, although it was a tad uncomfortable and it rolled around on the top of her head.

"I would recommend the headlamp rather than the hardhat," a man's voice suddenly spoke from behind her, causing Louise to jump in surprise. She turned around to see a man clad in an Alolan shirt chuckling to himself. He had green hair and a pair of dark sunglasses covering his eyes, a set of blue jeans and a white shirt completing the outfit. A camera was wrapped around his chest on a band, telling Louise that he must have been a tourist.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said, and Louise shook her head.

"No, it is quite alright. You startled me, is all." She turned back to the items in front of her, cupping her chin. "You say the headlamps are better? How?"

"I know from experience. Unless you are mining or in construction, a hardhat will only encumber you. For simply going into a cave or climbing a mountain, most of the time a headlamp will be more than sufficient." He answered and directed her to a particular red headlamp. "This brand in particular is high quality and low price, perfect for a budget minded trainer."

"Really?" Louise took the headlamp and looked over. She liked to think that she had an eye for quality, and from what she could see it was of a good caliber. The body was made of a shiny, durable metal, aluminum if Louise had to guess, with a bright, rounded-rectangular bulb in the center. Two straps, one going up the top, allowed her to snugly fit it upon her head. She tested it, moved her head around in swivels and side to side, noticing how it didn't sway. Satisfied, she removed the headlamp and turned back to the tourist, a faint smile on her face.

"Thank you, this is perfect," she said as she grabbed a blue model of the same brand.

"No problem, miss. Happy to help," he nodded then turned and walked away.

"Wait, I didn't get your name!" Louise called after him, but he continued to walk away and outside the sliding glass doors. She frowned and debated going after him, but shook her head and decided against it. She quickly gathered a few more items then walked through the store to find Saito placing a few more repels into his shopping cart. He noticed Louise and nodded towards her as she walked towards him, her items tucked away in a small, handheld basket.

"So, find anything useful?" he asked, helping to place her items into his cart.

"Some more food, water, Pokémon food, something called an Escape Rope, and some headlamps." She held out the items in question and handed Saito the blue one. He looked it over and hummed to himself before nodding.

"Good find," he said. "These will definitely be useful. Where'd you find them?"

"Over in the equipment isle. At first, I was going to get a hardhat with lamps on them, but an Alolan tourist convinced me to get these, instead."

"Smart choice, and that was nice of him. What was his name?"

"I don't know, he left before I could ask," Louise admitted with a regretful tone then sighed. "What's done is done. Let's go ahead and pay for all this then get on the road."

"Hold on," Saito said just as Louise began to push the cart away. With narrow eyes, he pulled out a large and colorful plastic bag, a wide assortment of candies and sweets emblazing the bag. "Really? Sweets?"

Louise stared at him, her face turning red from embarrassment before she turned away with a huff. "I'm allowed to indulge myself. Today has been hard."

" _Ten pounds_ worth of indulgence?" he asked pointedly as he continued to dig through more of her bags, each one he opened causing Louise to grow redder and redder.

"Sh-shut up!" Louise stammered, and Saito continued to stare at her. After a while, she looked down in embarrassment and tapped her fingers together. "Okay, so _maybe_ I went a little overboard, but come on! I love Kalosian sweets! There's so much variety here, and I couldn't decide on which one!"

"I understand that, but there is such a thing as going overboard," Saito said as he began taking a few of the bags away. "We're only getting one. There's no reason to get any more."

"But—" Louise began to protest, but Saito's glare stopped her in her tracks. "Fine," she grumbled and turned around. Saito smiled, patted her shoulder, and after putting away most of the bags, they both walked towards the counter. They paid, with them splitting the cost, then headed back outside where Derflinger waited for them.

"We got what we need, Derf," Saito said and the Honedge nodded. Together, the trio began walking towards the eastern edge of the city, hoping to get some decent headway before nightfall, neither of them noticing a green haired woman enter the PokéMart behind them.

* * *

"Geez, you have gone to _town_ on those things," Saito said as he and Derflinger stared at Louise with a mixture of awe and disgust.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Louise replied as she ate another handful of chocolate. The bag was already a quarter empty after only two hours of walking, and she showed no signs of abating anytime soon. She reached her hand into the bag yet again for a snack, only for Saito to shake his head and grab her hand.

"I think you've had enough," he declared as he tried to take the bag away. In response, Louise gripped the bag tightly and turned away from him, ripping the bag away from Saito's hands.

"No! This is mine!" she shouted and ran off, kicking up small clouds of dust with her footsteps and throwing handfuls of candy into her mouth with each step.

"For Arceus' sake…" Saito shook his head, a ghost of a smile on his lips and ran after her, leaving Derflinger behind. He silently stared and watched the trainers dance around each other, Louise continuing to inhale sweets while Saito swiped at the bag, trying to take it from her.

"…I sleep for six thousand years, and this is what flirting turns into." Derflinger sighed and shook his body. He continued to watch as Saito finally caught up to the rosecrown, who let out a victorious yell as he hefted the bag above his head and out of Louise's reach.

"Give it back!" She jumped and reached for the bag of sweets, only for Saito to laugh and keep it away. "Saito!"

Derflinger chuckled. "Kids." Deciding that enough was enough, he floated over to the squabbling trainers and took the bag from Saito's hands.

"What the-?" Saito looked at Derflinger while Louise puffed her cheeks in cute anger.

"Alright, kids, Papa Derf says that's enough. We can play later." Louise moved to protest but decided against it. She sighed then nodded her head.

"Fine, okay," she grumbled and rubbed her forearm. "…Sorry for getting…carried away."

Saito rubbed the back of his head and sheepishly grinned. "Yeah, I'm sorry, too."

The two trainers looked at each other then at Derflinger, faint smiles on both of their faces. If Derflinger had a mouth, he'd be smirking at that moment. Since he didn't, he settled on chuckling.

"Come on, you two. Let's get going. If we're lucky, we'll manage to get a few more miles before sundown." The trio began to walk again while Louise pulled out her Pokédex.

"Let me check the map real quick…" she hummed to herself as she pulled out the map. Zooming in on Rivière Lane, she pulled out a more detailed map of the route. The route itself seemed to be a straight shot through the countryside, with no towns between them and Connecting Cave. There were three distinct landmarks that caught her attention. On the far end of the route was someplace called the Battle Chateau, a battle arena in a mansion, if she had to guess. Closer to Camphrier was a berry plantation called Berry Fields, but she didn't focus on either of those. Instead, she focused on something much closer."

"Saito, look at this," she called out to Saito and handed him her Pokédex. He looked the map over and quickly saw what she was referring to.

"Huh, there's a Daycare not that far from here." He tapped his chin. "You do know what a Daycare is, right?"

"Yes, actually. Professor Sycamore explained them to me." Louise smiled proudly.

"Well I don't," Derflinger interjected. "Mind explaining the concept to this old 'mon?"

"A Daycare is a place where trainers can keep their Pokémon that aren't in use," Louise explained with her finger pointed upward. "While most trainers simply have their extra Pokémon go to where they started, whether it be with the regional professor or their families, at a Daycare, a Pokémon can actually undergo more specialized training than they may be able to do elsewhere. In addition to keeping the Pokémon happy and healthy, the breeders at these Daycares serve as both trainers and healthcare specialists, helping to ensure that the Pokémon keep up with their training for when they are called back onto the field.

"At the same time, Daycares can also obtain a League certification for Pokémon Breeding. Due to the large amount of Pokémon that they have on hand, breeding inevitably occurs. Daycares can then either give or sell these eggs to different trainers, professors, or a variety of different organizations. It's how they get their money, actually. A combination of trainer fees and the legal egg trade."

"Huh, that's interesting," Derflinger closed his eyes and nodded. "I take it you want to check it out?"

"Yes, actually." Louise nodded and Saito hummed in thought.

"Well, it is on the way," he pointed out. "Plus, we might be able to spend the night there. I, for one, would much rather sleep on a bed or couch than in a sleeping bag." Louise nodded in agreement then looked at Derflinger.

"I see no problem with it," he said, moving his body in a way that looked like shrugging. "And, like you, I'm curious as well."

"Then its decided." Louise smiled. "We'll go to the Rivière Daycare, check it out, and spend the night. It'll be fun!"

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest episode of Outsiders!

Not a lot happened in this chapter, after all it is a breather but important stuff did happen. Namely, Derflinger not joining Saito's team due to a desire for a bit more freedom at the moment. Had a bit of worldbuilding as well, and some character reveals.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **MBenz4268** : Religion is kind of addressed in the story, but more subtly. As a whole, the people of Earth are not very religious. They used to worship Legendaries, especially Arceus and the Creation Trio, but as time passed, that fell out of favor. Nowadays, the exclamation of using Arceus' name and other Legendaries are more cultural holdovers. It's not going to get any real focus, however, as it is not the crux of the story.

 **Metal Vile** : Elizabeth's team, as of now, is Eevee, Zorua, and Machamp. She didn't bring anyone else with her.

 **Pacer287** : Yes, yes he did. That was Brimir's favorite dirty joke, after all. Louise, of course, was mortified. It was a way for us to deliver a recognizable punchline for an infamous dirty joke that everyone can immediately get, yet still leaves enough to the imagination to where you can imagine anything you want while keeping things PG-13. I'm not apologizing.

 **Celestia's Paladin** : We wanted to show the nuance of Brimir. He was a human being, not a complete monster. By the end, he had turned quite monstrous, but he wasn't always that. It's something we wanted to show and for Louise to realize that he was not this perfect saint but a fallible man. As for Louise changing Allie, that remains to be seen.

Anyway, that's it for this chapter. We hope you all enjoy!


	28. Season 1, Episode 7, Chapter 2

**Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)**

 **Season 1, Episode 7, Chapter 2**

[~][~]

"Oooh," Louise groaned as she laid on her knees, on hand keeping her propped off the ground while the other clutched her stomach. Her insides lurched in a dull pain, and every breath made her feel nauseous. Bile threatened to erupt out of her mouth, and it was only through sheer will that she kept it down.

"There, there," Saito comforted Louise as he patted her back, kneeling next to her the entire time while Espirit used Heal Pulse on her trainer's stomach. "Just breathe. Deep breaths, in and out."

"Scr- HURK," Louise gagged and covered her mouth, a warm sensation rising up her through before she forced it back down. Once it was gone, she groaned again. "Why? Founder, why?"

"That's why you can't eat that many sweets so quickly. It'll mess up your—" Saito stopped as Louise could no longer hold it in and threw up loudly. Espirit jumped away with a squeak and the boy had a plain look on his face, pointedly looking away. "…stomach." Louise retching slowly stopped and was replaced by ragged breaths. A few tears were on the corners of her eyes, but Saito chalked that up to embarrassment more than anything.

"I'm back, what did I—" Derflinger announced, only to stop as he saw Louise's state. "Ew, that's nasty. Too many sweets?"

"Too many sweets."

"I know that feeling. First night I had a body, I gorged myself on food and drink, having never had it before. It was great. The next day, not so much. Word of advice, there is a time to stop eating and drinking, and that time is two in the morning. Nothing good ever comes after two in the morning." Derflinger had a haunted look in his eye as he shuddered from the memory.

"Good to…urg…know…" Louise grumbled out as she shakily rose to her feet, Saito helping her along the way. "Is…Aile back with those berries?"

"What do you think?"

* * *

" _Aile, hurry up! Louise has been puking for the past ten minutes!" Brennaraki shouted at the gluttonous_ Fletchling, who was fluttering about the tree branches.

" _There's so many to choose from!_ " Aile shouted back, nibbling on a berry. " _I have to find out which ones will help her._ "

" _By eating one of every type of berry here!?"_

" _It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make._ " Aile closed her eyes and threw her wing over her heart, as if saluting herself for some noble deed. Brennaraki growled in response.

" _Oh, I'll make you a sacrifice if you don't HURRY THE HELL UP!_ "

* * *

"In all honesty, she is working much more quickly than she normally would, and I am surprised at how much restraint she is showing. She's only trying the healing berries."

"That doesn't seem like a massive improvement," Saito pointed out, to which Louise shrugged while still perched on his shoulder.

"Baby steps, Saito. Baby steps," Louise said, feeling the need to defend her Pokémon. Besides, her stomach was starting to feel better, putting her in a better mood. Espirit, perched atop Louise's shoulder, merely shrugged before continuing to use Heal Pulse on Louise, causing the rosecrown to smile. The group continued to make their way towards the Berry Fields, and pretty soon the yellow fences came into view. Outside them they saw a plantation worker standing next to Aile and Brennaraki, the Fennekin scolding the unabashed Fletching quite animatedly. In front of them was a large basket filled with berries, and Louise's smile grew.

"Ma'am," the worker tipped his hat towards them, "here are the berries your Honedge requested. Must admit, I was surprised to hear a Pokémon speak to me, but I got over it pretty quickly."

"Thank you, sir," Louise bowed. "Your generosity is most appreciated."

"Don't mention it." The worker smiled. "Just try to lay off the sweets a bit. All that corn syrups and extracts…it just ain't natural, 'ya know? None of that is good for 'ya."

"Don't worry, I'll watch myself more carefully." Louise smiled and waved. "We have to get going now. Thanks again!"

With one final wave, the two trainers returned their Pokémon, picked up the basket of berries, then walked back towards the main road. Louise nibbled on her berries, each bite bringing a soothing sensation to her throat and stomach.

"Hmm, Oran, Sitrus, Pecha, Aile really went all out. She did good," Saito hummed to himself as he appraised the selection. Louise, meanwhile, continued to much on the berries, albeit much more slowly than previously. A taunting smirk then appeared on Saito's face as he looked at his partner, who was pointedly avoiding eye contact.

"So, what have we learned?" he asked.

"Don't eat too many sweets too fast," Louise replied quickly as she took another bite of an Oran berry. A moment of silence descended on them before Derflinger spoke up.

"You're not going to give up on the sweets, are you?" he plainly asked.

"Of course not. Now, though, I'll be sure to eat more responsibly." Saito merely laughed at that, and the two continued to walk down the road. It wasn't long before they came across another intersection, with one road leading north and the other continuing westward. Next to the road they noticed a wooden sign. On it were two arrows, one pointing north, the other west.

"Okay, it says here…" Louise leaned forward to get a closer look. She heard faint footsteps pass them by but paid them no heed. She then smiled and stood up straight. "Alright, the daycare's north of here. Shall we?"

"Let's get going," Saito said and smiled. The two then took the north road, leaving the paved Riviere Lane for a worn dirt path. After a few moments, a confused look crossed Saito's face, and he looked at Louise.

"Louise?"

"Yes, Saito?"

"I just thought of something. If you're from another world, then how come you can speak and read our language?"

"In all honesty, I don't know." Louise shrugged and shook her head. "Maybe its my magic, maybe Arceus messed with my head and downloaded the language like a TM, or its just a massive coincidence that Albionese is exactly the same as Unovan."

"I learned to stop asking those types of questions a _long_ time ago," Derflinger butted in. "Less of a headache."

"Fair enough." The trio continued walking down the road before rounding a bend, exiting the sight of the main road. As they did, a figure burst back into view, coming from the west, looking around franticly with her wide maroon eyes.

* * *

After several hours of walking under the burning sun, stopping once for lunch and a quick training session, the group finally arrived at the outskirts of the Kalos River Daycare. A large dome, one that looked like the top half of a Pokéball, sat in the middle of a large field. The field itself appeared to represent a wide range of environments. Louise saw grassy plains, rocky hills, a small swamp, even a river and lake running though it that separated many sections from one another. Off in the distance, she saw a few other buildings. One appeared to be a greenhouse, while the other was merely a grey steel box. If she had to guess, it was likely for any Ice-type Pokémon. All throughout the daycare, she could see herds of Pokémon sleeping, grazing, running, and playing across all the different areas. In the lake, swamp, and river, Water-type Pokémon splashed and swam, and they all looked happy and content.

"Well, this place is certainly impressive," Derflinger noted, awe in his voice. Saito and Louise only nodded. "And I thought Camphrier had cleaned up nicely."

"Back in Unova, I managed to visit a local daycare. That place was mostly a ranch. But this," he paused and breathed in. "I definitely wouldn't mind leaving my Pokémon here."

"Same." Louise nodded and pursed her lips. The place was certainly impressive but what most shook Louise was the sheer size of it all. The entire facility dwarfed her family estate, and she had thought that was big. This was at least four times the size, and it was all for the caring of Pokémon. It was mind-boggling.

She shook her head, letting her natural curiosity override her shock. "Come on, let's head on inside. If we're lucky, we can get a tour before nightfall."

"Hopefully," Saito agreed. Together, the two made their way towards the front gate. It was unlocked, with a red sign that read "Open" hanging off of it. Accepting the invitation, Saito opened the gate and let Louise walk through before walking in after her. As they neared the glass doors, they stopped and looked at each other. With a silent nod, Louise reached towards the door, intending to knock and announce their arrival.

"I've finally found you!" a familiar voice cried, halting Louise in her tracks. After quickly recovering, the pair turned to see who was hailing them, and their eyes widened.

"Elizabeth!? What are you doing here?!" Louise shrieked, both out of surprise and indignation. Elizabeth stood in the gateway, easily recognizable by her tanned skin and long green hair. Notably, she wasn't wearing the navy dress she wore the previous times they had seen her, instead wearing a long violet dress that reminded Louise of the things Zerbst would wear. Seeing that she had their attention, the verdette smiled and began sauntering towards the pair.

"You wouldn't believe how much trouble you were to find, Little Rose!" she exclaimed, "You weren't on any of the roads, you weren't in town, and just when I thought you had moved on, I find you here, at a daycare of all places. What drew you in, the months-old ads proclaiming their 'expanded facilities'?"

"If you must know," Louise replied, "we just saw it marked on the map and decided to investigate."

"Well, that's cute," Elizabeth said, "but let's get down—"

"I'm sorry," Saito interrupted, causing Elizabeth to direct her attention to the boy with a disgusted glare.

"Oh, _you_ ," Elizabeth said with a flat tone. "What do you want?"

"I'm sorry for injuring you back at the cafe," Saito explained, an apologetic look in his eyes. "I lashed out, and you got hurt. It shouldn't have happened, and I'm sorry. I do have some issues with my temper, but I'm glad it at least didn't scar."

"Really now?" the verdette said, pulling out a cloth and wiping down the left side of her face, revealing an ugly, jagged scar, "Be glad I decided not to press charges, the next person you slash might not be as forgiving."

"Why are you here, Elizabeth?" Louise said, annoyance and anger bubbling back up. "I'm pretty sure it wasn't just to threaten my companion."

"You're companion? _Keeheehee!_ I'm sure you can find better than him!" Elizabeth replied, while an offended look crossed both Louise and Saito's faces. "But, I'm here for a simple reason: I want another rematch."

"Again?" Louise asked, incredulously. "Haven't I humiliated you enough?"

"I'm not hearing a 'no.'"

"Fine!" Louise threw her hands up in the air. "We both know how this is going to turn out."

Saito sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I'd rather not have to sit through another one of these, so I'll just leave you girls to it."

"Fine by me," Elizabeth said, somewhat glad that Saito was leaving. "Your move, Little Rose."

"I'm sure you already know my choice," Louise said, "Go! Brennaraki!"

" _Keh heh heh_ I'm going to enjoy wiping that smug look off your face," Elizabeth replied, "Zorua!"

"Well, at least it isn't a fish out of water this time," Louise muttered as the black and red fox appeared in the courtyard. Immediately, she pulled out her Pokédex and pointed the camera towards the Zorua.

" _Zorua, the Tricky Fox Pokémon. Zorua and its evolution Zororark have the unique ability to bend light around them and create illusions, making them appear to be something else. They use this ability to both hide from predators as well as prey._ "

"Hmm," Louise hummed to herself as she quickly thought of a strategy. It was a Dark-type, which limited Brennaraki somewhat, and the mention of illusions likely meant that tricks would be employed. She would have to be careful.

"Are you just going to gawk all day, or are we going to battle?" Elizabeth asked, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently. Louise growled.

"Fire Spin!"

* * *

"Geez, this is turning into a mess," Saito groaned and ran his fingers through his hair as he sat down. He was on a hill outside of the facility, overlooking the daycare. He had a nice view of the entire place. A faint whistling was heard, and Saito turned his head to see Derflinger floating up to him.

"Well, I take it that pinky and greeny have some sort of history between them," he observed as he stopped next to the boy. "She was so focused on you two that she didn't even notice me. Mind filling me in?"

"It's…complicated." Saito sighed. "You know how Louise arrived in Kalos almost two months ago?"

"She mentioned that. I take she was involved, somewhat?"

"Louise met her just before she left for Santalune. She had spent the month with Professor Augustine Sycamore as his intern and assistant. While she was there, she not only learned everything she could about Pokémon, she also bonded with Brennaraki."

"Pretty strongly, too." Derflinger's eye lidded in content and chuckled. "It's kinda funny how similar those two are. Well, that's probably why they get along so well, now that I think about it."

"I've thought that, too. Those two are inseparable, at this point. Anyway, back to what I was saying, during that first month, Louise and Brennaraki bonded. Started developing that trust between them. Then, Elizabeth showed up one day."

"What happened?"

"As Louise explained it, Elizabeth was, and is, a collector, a person who collects rare Pokémon. As Brennaraki was a female Shiny Fennekin, this made her extremely rare and thus highly valuable. Elizabeth wanted to buy her, and both Brennaraki and Sycamore refused."

"I take it that's why Louise doesn't like collectors all that much?" Derflinger mused. He had only known them for roughly twelve hours, but he had picked up on Louise's resentment towards the group. He himself had no problem with the practice, just so long as the Pokémon in question were cared for, but he also would respect her opinion.

Saito nodded at his question. "Pretty much, that and also the practice hit too close for home. Anyway, Elizabeth didn't take no for an answer, and that night she broke in to try and steal Brennaraki."

"Well, color me surprised. Didn't take the lady for a cat burglar, although she obviously sucks at it." Derflinger glanced down to the bottom of hill, where Louise's and Elizabeth's battle still raged. "Did she at least wear a catsuit for it?"

"Louise said she did, actually. Anyway, to Elizabeth, she was merely 'buying' Brennaraki with five times her purchase price on the open market, but yeah, she tried to steal her. Long story short, Louise stopped her, got bit in the leg by her Eevee, Elizabeth got kicked out and barred from ever reentering Sycamore's lab, and Louise got Brennaraki as her starter." Derflinger went silent, thinking the chain of events over before looking back down on the battle below them. It was still ongoing, with Brennaraki and Zorua exchanging blows, neither gaining an advantage over the other.

"Something tells me that's not the end of it." He observed, and Saito nodded once more.

"When Louise and I, now traveling together, got back to Lumiose to try and challenge the Lumiose Gym, Elizabeth saw us entering the city together. She decided to get some petty revenge on her and, having assumed that we were an item for some reason," Saito didn't notice the odd look on Derflinger's eye, and continued, "decided to get to her through me."

"What she'd do? Ask you out on a date?" Derflinger laughed. When Saito didn't respond, the laughter slowly died down, and the Honedge looked upon the boy incredulously. "Ah, come on! Didn't anyone tell you not to shit in the bed you sleep in?"

"In my defense," Saito protested, an embarrassed blush on his cheeks, "Louise did not tell me her name or what she looked like. I merely thought she was a pretty girl who wanted to eat with me, for some reason. Like a moron, I accepted."

"When did Louise come in?"

"An hour into it. She was flustered and angry then stormed out. A few minutes later, she came back in, all calm and composed before proceeding to expertly expose her as the thief and revealing that she was using me." Saito looked downcast and regretful, something Derflinger picked up on.

"Ha, seems like a fairly restrained reaction from her," Derflinger laughed out before growing more somber. "So, what happened next?"

"I… I saw red. Tunnel vision and everything. I felt humiliated, used, angry, and I wanted to lash out. So, I threw the contents of my water glass at her then stormed out."

"That doesn't seem so bad." Saito merely sighed, this one deeper.

"What I didn't know, before I threw my water at her, was that in my anger, I accidently chipped the glass I was holding. A small crack appeared and, when I threw my water at her, a piece of glass flew out, too, which hit her in the face. That's why she has that big scar next to her eye. I caused that…" Saito grew silent, as did Derflinger. He thought over his words, then finally spoke up.

"It was an accident, right?" Saito looked confused at his question and nodded.

"Yes, of course. I would never have willingly done that."

"Then why are you still stewing about it? What's done is done. So you gave her a scar, she probably already made up a far more interesting tale on how she obtained it. But, sitting there and ruminating over your past mistakes is not the best way forward. You feel bad, right? Use that feeling to better yourself. Make sure that you never do that again, unless you really need to, that is."

"You make it sound so easy."

"It's not, trust me. I've seen many men and women, good men and women, fall to grudges and past regrets. They weren't able to move on, and in the end, it destroyed them." Thoughts of past partners raced through Derflinger's mind, but he shook them away. "I don't want to see that happen to either of you."

Saito was silent as he stared at the Honedge. Finally, he nodded. "Okay, I'll… I'll try."

"Don't try, do." Derflinger shook his body. "As for Elizabeth, I don't have an answer for that. Maybe she'll eventually forgive you. That's up to her, not you. You made a mistake, and you're not going to ever repeat it. You're doing your part, let her do hers."

Saito was shocked, not having expected that piece of advice from the six thousand-year-old Honedge. Finally, he nodded in agreement then looked back out towards the daycare. The sight was serene and peaceful. He wasn't lying when he said he wouldn't mind leaving his Pokémon here. Granted, he didn't have to. Should he get any excess Pokémon, which he didn't plan on doing, they would all go to Professor Sycamore. Benefits of being friends with his protégé, so he didn't have need of their services. He could see all the different Pokémon out on the field, a few watching the battle below them. He saw herds of Tauros and Bouffalant grazing on the plains, Psyduck and Ducklett swimming in the river, and a single Absol starring him down.

"Huh, an Absol. That's neat," Derflinger said, staring the creature down. It continued to stare at them before shifting its gaze downward. They followed its gaze and saw it was now staring at Louise, who remained oblivious to her new observer. Slowly, Saito pulled out his Pokédex and scanned the creature, and with rising alarm, noticed it was a wild Pokémon.

"Derf, quick question," Saito asked, his voice's pitch getting higher. "That whole thing about Absols predicting disasters… It's not true, is it?"

"It's completely accurate," Derflinger replied, deep in contemplation. "It can either be natural or manmade, but if a wild Absol shows up, odds are something interesting is about to happen."

A pregnant paused ensued between the two of them. They stared at each other then back towards the Absol, who they quickly noted was now gone. A moment passed, and then the two shot up and sprinted down the hill.

* * *

The two foxes growled as they circled each other, neither of them having gained a decisive advantage, but Elizabeth knew that it wouldn't stay that way for long. She could already tell that Zorua was getting tired out, the fox's previous life leaving her stamina somewhat less than desirable. Brennaraki, by contrast, had likely trained for this for her entire life, so Zorua would have to finish this quickly if she were to have any chance at victory. The verdette smiled, a plan forming in her mind.

"Zorua!" she said, motioning for the fox to charge at her opponent.

"Brennaraki, dodge!" Louise shouted, prompting the silver fox to jump out of the way of Zorua's rather clumsy attack.

Elizabeth smiled, Louise had just fallen into her trap. "Pursuit!"

Zorua pivoted around and leapt at Brennaraki, a corona of purple energy forming around her. The firefox was unable to dodge and took the charge side-on, her leap turning into a graceless tumble as the energy detonated, imparting more momentum to its target.

"What?" Louise said, utterly surprised by the event.

" _Keeheehee_ , you're too predictable," the verdette laughed. "Zorua, finish her off with Fury Swipes!"

The tricky fox gave an approximation of a nod before taking off towards the downed Pokémon, her claws at the ready. Only, she never got there. The confused fox glanced around and discovered that she was being suspended a few inches off the ground.

"Hey! You two need to stop fighting!" Saito yelled as he ran towards the two young women.

"Well that's a definite foul if I've ever seen one," Elizabeth muttered before addressing Saito. "Is this important or could you just not bear to see your crush lose?" Louise's face reddened at that remark, but Saito seemed nonplussed.

"A-anyway," he awkwardly began, "I saw an Absol nearby, I don't think it's safe here."

" _Urgh_ , another fool," Elizabeth murmured, recalling Zorua and placing her head in her hands.

"Absol?" Louise asked, confused as to why her partner seemed alarmed at that news. "I don't think I've heard of that one."

"You have a Pokédex, right?" the verdette said suddenly, "Double-oh nine, Coastal."

"Oh," the rosecrown said, pulling up the relevant file.

" _Absol. The Disaster Pokémon."_ the device chirped, _"Nearly every time an Absol appears before people, it is followed by a disaster such as an earthquake or a tidal wave. As a result, it came to be known as the Disaster Pokémon."_

"Huh, that's…concerning." Louise pursed her lips and frowned before looking at Saito. With a hardened expression, she pocketed her Pokédex once again and looked back towards Elizabeth. "Can you give us a moment?"

"You do realize that's Tauros shit, right?" Elizabeth stated, but Louise only responded with a glare. With a defeated sigh, Elizabeth shook her head and walked away, pulling out her smartphone as she did. "Fine, fine. I'll be over there. Don't think this is over."

"I don't think I could if I wanted to," Louise uttered under her breath before looking back at Saito. "You look distressed. What's going on?"

"I don't know," Saito hastily responded. "Derflinger and I saw and Absol a few minutes ago, and that is never a good sign."

"You're honestly saying that the appearance of an Absol says that disaster awaits?" Louise raised her eyebrow in disbelief. "Saito, I've seen many strange things since I've been here, but this—"

"It was staring right at us." Saito's declaration silenced Louise. Seeing how her eyes were now widening, Saito pressed on. "Derf and I saw it over on the rocks. It was staring right at us. I could _feel_ its eyes boring into me."

Louise was silent as she grabbed her chin and looked up at the rocks in question. Nothing was there. "Are you sure that the disaster connection is accurate?"

"Back during the Kalosian Unification Wars," Derflinger spoke up, "I once saw an Absol overlooking a vast and fertile floodplain. It was the middle of a drought, so no one worried about the risk of catastrophic flooding, but seeing that Absol spooked King Kalos I into pulling out. A week later, the largest and most powerful storm in over a century hit and caused a landslide. Coupled with the flooding, the entire Aquacorde army was wiped out, along with several low-lying villages. Similar sightings occurred just before massive earthquakes, landslides, and even the bloodiest battles of the war. So yes, the connection is accurate."

Louise was silent as she pondered this information. While she didn't trust the Honedge entirely, Louise couldn't help but notice the sense of urgency in his voice. One he hadn't had since she met him. She turned back to Saito, placing her hand on her hip.

"Okay, let's say I believe you. What do we do?"

"Get the hell out of here," Saito immediately replied. "I may not know what disaster is coming, but I do not want to be part of it." Louise stayed silent, staring at Saito before looking at Derflinger. He, too, was staring at her, just without the level of panic Saito had. Finally, she spoke up.

"Derflinger, you said that the disaster can also be manmade, right?" Derflinger nodded, and Louise continued. "In that case, we're staying."

"Ha! I was hoping you would say that! It's been ages since I had any real action!" Derflinger shouted with enthusiasm only for Saito to start sputtering in surprise.

"Let me explain," Louise cut him off. "One, I'm still not entirely convinced that this connection is accurate. If it isn't correct, I don't want to avoid our plans based purely off of superstitious nonsense. If the connection is accurate, then I want to be here to help out with whatever this upcoming disaster may or may not be."

"But—"

"Saito," Louise cut him off again, this time with a glare. "We are not leaving just because we got spooked by a Pokémon. Got it? Besides, how would you feel if something bad did happen, one that you could have helped prevent, but didn't because of cowardice?" Saito stayed silent before groaning.

"Fine, fine," he moaned. "One night. One night, and if nothing happens, then you get the right to say, 'I told you so,' and then we leave. Deal?"

"Deal." The two shook hands and walked back over to Elizabeth, who as angrily putting away her phone.

"Lousy reception," she angrily muttered as she turned back towards the two trainers. "Well, what have you two decided? Going to cut and run due to superstition?"

"For your information," Louise got out with a huff, "we are going to keep our original plan, one that you rudely interrupted, and we will be staying the night. If nothing bad happens, then nothing happens. If it does, then we plan on helping out. You can leave if you want."

"Ohhoho, you're not getting rid of me that easily," the verdette said as she walked past the two, towards the main building. "Besides, I know a few of the guys who work here, and they'd probably be happy to give you a tour of the place if you asked, since I doubt that you've had time to look inside yet."

"Again, a plan you had rudely interrupted," Louise barked back with a glare

"Hey, lady?" a vaguely familiar voice said, "Why are you acting so nice? From what the spitfire's said, you're supposedly the worst."

" _Keh_ , the 'spitfire' tends to be biased against those she doesn't like," Elizabeth haughtily laughed with her eyes closed, turning around. Then she saw who she was speaking with, and she froze. She had been so focused on Louise and Saito that she hadn't noticed the Honedge floating alongside them, and her heartbeat sped up dramatically as her eyes widened in fear. Dark, powerful memories she had long thought repressed sprang forward, and for a moment she though she heard another voice call out to her in anger.

" _Oi! Who are you calling tamed?"_

"Ehh, lady?" Derflinger asked, now concerned. "Is something wrong? I don't have something stuck on my face, do I?"

"G-get away from me, demon!" Elizabeth shouted before sprinting to the door and disappearing inside, leaving behind a shocked Saito, Louise, and Derflinger.

"What the hell was that about?" Saito wondered, idle concern bubbling in him.

Derflinger sent a concerned glance towards the door before turning back to his partners. He had a thought as to why there verdette reacted the way he did, but nothing concrete. "I honestly don't know."

"Should I go check on her?" Saito asked earnestly, and Derflinger shook his body.

"Give her some space, she'll come find us when she's ready," the Honedge replied.

"Then we just wait?" Louise asked, looking towards the facility. "I don't want to just go inside while she's freaked out. What are we supposed to do now?" The trio went silent as they pondered their next course of action.

"Well," Derflinger began after a few moments of silence, "have I told you how I met King Kalos I?"

* * *

Elizabeth leaned against a wall, allowing her heart to calm down, grateful that there was nobody in the room to see her in this state. She wasn't entirely sure why the Honedge had scared her so badly, she had held a deep-seated fear of the Honedge line for nearly half her life, but somehow _this_ was different. She had recognized the blade, despite being certain that she had never seen it before in her life, and that terrified her more than anything else. After a few more moments, the verdette exhaled and straightened up, walking over to the main desk, and stopped when she remembered that there wasn't anyone there.

"That's odd," Elizabeth said, reaching for the bell on the desk and ringing it, "usually they have somebody here."

Nothing happened for a few seconds, then a violet-haired young man tore out of the back room, nearly crashing into the desk. He was slightly overweight, but not too much, and his green eyes were slightly panicked at being caught unawares.

"Sorry! Sorry! I'm here, now! What can I help you with?" the man hurriedly said.

Elizabeth felt herself smile a little at the man's antics, "I'm surprised that you still work here, Jason."

"Oh! M-miss Elizabeth! Y-yep, I'm still working this job," the young man stuttered out. "What brings you here?"

"I was just passing through the area when I ran into a few," she paused, looking for the right word, " _friends_ who hadn't seen this place before."

"' _Friends,'_ right," Jason replied, smirking wryly. Elizabeth rolled her eyes, and the plum-haired man chuckled. "I know, I know. I'll drop it. Do you want me to find someone to give them a tour?"

"Yes, please," she said, "How did you know what I was going to ask?"

"Lucky guess?" he replied, leaning on the desk. "Though, if I may ask, just who are these _friends_ who're troubling you?"

"Oh, they're just some guys I met in Lumiose, not really the type of people I'd seek out," Elizabeth said. "Normally I'd just move on, but one of them saw an Absol, and now they're half convinced that something bad is going to happen." Both of them laughed, and Jason's eyes lit up as he thought of something.

"Let me guess, one of them was wearing a black dress and looked like she hadn't slept in weeks?"

" _Keeheehee!_ No, no," the verdette was quick to interject. "She wasn't that bad. At worst, she's got a family member who's into that stuff, but the only really 'hexey' thing I saw on her was a pentagram brooch."

"That's a shame," Jason said wistfully. "I may not like the whole idea behind the movement, but there's just something about that unhinged look that I can't help but find cute."

"Will you ever change?" Elizabeth smiled and shook her head.

"Probably not, I was born this way," Jason flippantly replied with a smirk. "Is she at least cute?"

Elizabeth quirked an eyebrow. "Are you into violent girls half your height?"

Jason sputtered. "What about her friends? Are they at all cute?"

"The Little Rose is more of an acquired taste, I guess," Elizabeth said, snorting, "As for her friend, have you ever read any of those Kantonian novels where this cardboard cutout of a person gets run over and Arceus takes pity on them, sending them to some other world where they succeed at everything they try?"

"Ye–" Jason cut himself off, "Err, I mean, I read a few, back when I didn't know better."

"Well, he basically looks like one of those guys, right down to the cringy tracksuit that'll make him stick out like a sore thumb in whatever world he gets thrown into."

Jason's face immediately fell. "Well, need anything else?"

"Do you have an open examination room?" the verdette replied. "I'm thinking of entering Machamp into PWE, and I forgot to take his measurements." After her last battle with Louise, it later turned out that one of the spectators had videoed Machamp's battle against the Shiny Fennekin. It amassed ten million views in a three days. It even got on the news the very next day. It honestly humiliated her, up until she started getting calls left and right from various sponsors asking her to enter Machamp into professional Pokémon wrestling. Despite the fact that Machamp had purposefully lost, he was still a good Pokémon and she felt it would be the best for him. Besides, many of the deals promised a sponsorship cut of his earnings, which would easily fund her expenses as she travelled.

"Sure," he replied. "There should be an open one right down the hall and to your left."

"Thank you," she said and walked off, her heels clicking loudly against the tile floor, even after she disappeared from view.

Jason watched her as she left and frowned. "I probably should have asked her about that scar." At that moment, the door opened, and he heard a bombastic voice recounting some story.

"Then she said: _'That's the last time you lie to me!'_ and began to strangle him with her hair despite being nearly three meters away!"

"Huh, a talking Honedge… That's neat."

* * *

Saito, Louise, and Derflinger entered shortly afterwards, with Jason escorting them. The male receptionist had quickly begun awkwardly flirting with Louise, causing her to blush and sputter from the attention. After all, no one had ever really done that to her. At the same time, Saito had subconsciously given the boy the stink eye as he did, which Jason had readily noticed. Rather than cease, he merely shifted his flirting to Saito, which caused him to start sputtering. Derflinger, meanwhile, remained silent and amused as he watched their antics.

"Hello, everyone~!" a woman's voice shouted out as she entered the foyer. She had long, brunette hair tied in a ponytail, and was wearing a green Kalos River Daycare uniform under light brown overalls. A green hat sat atop her head. "My name is Joyce, and I'm the senior caretaker here at the Kalos River Daycare center! What brings you two here today?"

"Hello, Joyce. My name is Louise Valliere, and this is my friend Saito." Saito waved as he was called out, a faint smile on his face. "We saw that there was a daycare nearby and we were both curious. We were hoping that you could give us a tour of the facilities?"

"Of course! I'm always happy to show out our facilities," Joyce happily nodded. "You know, we actually recently expanded our facilities, and now we are the largest daycare in the Kalos Region. Are you two, by any chance, looking to potentially keep some Pokémon here?"

"No, we are currently linked to Professor Sycamore's lab in Lumiose." Louise shook her head. "But, I'm still interested in your facilities, if it is alright with you."

"It's no problem at all! Any friend of Augustine is a friend of mine," Joyce replied with a smile. She then extended her arm towards the door she entered in from. "If you two will follow me, please?"

"Don't forget me," Derflinger spoke up. If the daycare worker was surprised, she didn't show it. Louise had to admire her professionalism.

"Of course! Please, right this way. Feel free to release the rest of your Pokémon from their Pokéballs. This is a daycare, after all. Being a Pokémon friendly venue is what we're all about."

The trio chuckled at her joke before walking through the door. They were greeted by a long hallway, with several doors lining the sides. Joyce took her position at the front of the group as Saito and Louise released the rest of their Pokémon.

"At the Kalos River Daycare, we take pride in ensuring the health and safety of all of the Pokémon in our care. As such we employ state of the art medical technology that allow us to monitor and heal for any injuries a Pokémon may obtain. Not to mention illnesses."

"Ooh," Louise marveled at the complicated equipment through the windows. Each room was an individual medical station, complete with monitors, bio-readers, and a healing machine. "You know, I've always wondered how those healing machines work."

"Actually, I can answer that," Joyce responded with a smile. "The HPM, Heal Pulse Machine, was a Silph Company invention made in Kanto a little over twenty years ago. It was the result of decades of research into artificially recreating the healing effects of certain Pokémon moves, such as Heal Pulse, which gave the machine its name. At first, the machines were bulky, only usable in hospitals and Pokémon Centers, where they used a combination of healing rays and berry extracts to mend injuries for people and Pokémon. Now, they've been able to miniaturize the device, allowing for smaller facilities and clinics to have one. We have ten."

"Wow." Louise turned back to the machines. Back home, water mages were often the ones who healed injuries, but to be able to do so through machines still fascinated her. Her Pokémon were bunched up with her, using her as a perch to try and get a better view inside. Espirit in particular was sitting atop Louise's head, gazing upon the room in wonder. Saito's Pokémon, with the exception of Maindo, were also currently watching another set of machines in inside another room, each just as fascinated. Joyce smiled at the sight, then coughed to get their attention.

"If you will come this way, I can show you what is, in my opinion, the best room in the entire facility," Joyce said as she led them further down the hall. At the far end was a sliding glass door with steel edging. The glass was foggy, obscuring their vision, yet from how Joyce was reacting, it appeared to be something good. As they approached, Louise and Saito noticed a keypad next to the door. Joyce covered it with her body then entered several numbers in quick succession. The pad shone green, and a clicking noise was heard from the door.

"Louise, Saito, welcome to the Hatchery," Joyce announced as the door opened. As it did, billows of steam entered the hallway, but the sight in front of them took their breathes away. Inside were hundreds of Pokémon Eggs. They lined the walls and were placed on special tables, each enclosed in a glass tube with a light shining above it. The eggs themselves were a wide assortment of patterns and colors, and Louise could only guess what lay within them. The same went for Saito, and they both felt a massive weight on them, that this room was one of the most important rooms they would ever been.

"How many eggs are in here?" Derflinger asked, his eye wide as he took in the sight. The other Pokémon, even Maindo, stared at the eggs in wonder and silence.

"Currently, we have in our hands three-hundred and six eggs, each contained in their own unique protective casing. Inside, the eggs incubate until they are ready to give to their trainers."

"And if the trainers don't accept the eggs, then you keep them," Louise pointed out, and Joyce nodded.

"That is correct, Ms. Valliere. Our facility is a licensed breeding center, and part of is the right to sell Pokémon Eggs. While we do have stock of our own, most of our eggs come from trainers leaving their Pokémon here."

"What sort of people buy them?" Louise asked.

"All sorts of people. Ranchers, farmers, researchers, and trainers, mostly. A few times we'll get a family who just wants a friend. All purchasers, though, no matter how big or small, have to undergo a background check to make sure that the Pokémon they want won't go to a bad home. Any history of abuse or criminal records get scrutinized and often outright refused."

"I appreciate that," Saito replied. "I dread to think of a Pokémon put into an abusive home."

"Same," Joyce's smile faltered. "It's terrible to think that sort of thing still happens in this world. It's cruel."

Louise was suddenly reminded of another difference between her home and Earth. Back home, animals were viewed as mindless beasts. All humans, even commoners, were obviously above them, superior in every way. Sure, an animal might be stronger or could fly, but humans were smarter. Humans had magic, they had technology, language and social structure. Humans had feelings and a soul, while animals did not. Humans brought order to the chaos that was the natural world, and as such many used it as all the justification they need to do whatever they wanted. In contrast, the people of Earth seemed to have moved past that mindset and into one where they weren't so much as masters of nature but more like caretakers. A belief that living alongside nature was better than to consume it, one they readily acted on. As a result, their relationship with nature was more harmonious than hers. If she had to guess, it likely came from the fact that on Earth, Pokémon were much more widespread than the magical creatures back home and were just as intelligent as they were. Humans here had to live with the fact that they were equals with Pokémon for their entire existence. Not to mention, it didn't make much sense to pollute the environment when that ran the risk of making a Dragon-type go on a rampage.

At first, the thought that she wasn't superior to another creature frightened her. But, after traveling for so long, it didn't anymore. Her Pokémon were family, and if anyone tried to imply otherwise, they would be quickly proven otherwise.

"Joyce?" Louise asked, shaking herself out of her thoughts. "I have a quick question about the Pokémon Eggs."

"Of course, Ms. Valliere. Or, may I call you Louise?"

"Louise is fine." She smiled. "How exactly does the hatching work? The breeding and everything?"

"Excellent question!" Joyce said with a smile. "Now, contrary to what many tell ten-year-old kids on their journeys, we do know exactly where eggs come from. Once a mating pair of Pokémon fertilize an Egg, the female then lays it, where we then take the egg for incubation. Although each species of Pokémon are different from one another, Professor Elm of the Johto Region discovered the existence of Egg Groups, where certain species of Pokémon can interbreed with each other despite being different species all together. The resulting egg always has characteristics of both the mother and father species, no matter which species the egg results in."

"Is that why a Skitty and a Wailord can breed?" Saito asked with a confused expression. Louise, not knowing what those Pokémon were, quickly pulled out her Pokédex and looked up the pair. After a moment, Derflinger peeked over her shoulder to look at the two Pokémon in question.

"How in the hell does _that_ work out?" he asked while Louise stared blankly at the picture of a tiny kitten and a massive whale.

"I…honestly have no idea. We've never had that happen here, at least since I started." Joyce shrugged, at a loss for words. "Anyway, Pokémon can hatch in one of two ways. The faster method is to give them to a trainer or mother. Something about close proximity to another beings speeds up the hatching process. Otherwise, we simply—"

A loud crack sounded in the hatchery, cutting Joyce off as she and the others whipped around to find the source. On a nearby table, they saw a yellow egg with a black bottom shaking, a small crack appearing at the top.

"Oh, my…" Joyce breathed out before rushing over. The others followed while Espirit immediately teleported to the egg. With her empathic abilities, she allowed herself to sense the emotions around her. She could feel the creatures inside all the eggs and in the nearby nurseries. They were happy, joyful, and full of curiosity as they took in the world around them. Many could barely feel the world outside of their eggs and were only just now beginning to grasp how large the world actually was. The egg in front of her, however, had just now fully realized how big the world was, and it wanted to see for itself, yet at the same time was afraid.

' _Come on, you can do it_ ,' she soothed the Pokémon side. ' _It's not scary out here. It's bright and warm, you'll love it. Just come on out and see._ '

The Pokémon seemed to heed her words and the fear slowly abated. Soon, more cracks appeared on the egg, and a soft glow appeared from inside. It was a warm light, bright as the sun yet not blinding. Everyone stood in awe as the cracks expanded, the light shining brighter and brighter until finally, with one final crack, the egg shell fully cracked away and turned into light. No one turned their gaze away as the light shone brighter and brighter until it finally died away, revealing a small yellow and black mouse with a short black tail. It was an adorable as it rubbed its eyes, letting them adjust to the outside world, its pink cheek marks sparking slightly. Silently, her eyes filled with wonder, Louise pulled out her Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon.

" _Pichu, the Tiny Mouse Pokémon. The electric sacs of a Pichu are underdeveloped compared to other Electric-type Pokémon, and often hurt themselves when using electric their electricity. At the same time, they also do not produce nearly as much voltage. This makes them highly appropriate as pets to young children, and their evolved forms of Pikachu and Raichu make them highly valuable to trainers as well_."

"Its…" Louise paused to let the Pichu yawn, a tiny squeak coming out as it did, "… _adorable!_ " She felt no shame that she practically squealed out that last part.

' _Welcome to the world_.' Espirit smiled at the Pichu, who finally opened its eyes and looked her, then smiled.

* * *

Several hours into the pile of paperwork she was given, the sun long gone and the moon shining overhead, Elizabeth was only just now finishing it up. The biggest problem was simply going through all of the different offers and finding out which one had the best deal. Eventually, they decided on the PWE contract, seeing how its terms were the most favorable for them.

"Only 125 kilos?" Elizabeth said incredulously, "Have I been treating you wrong, or are you just small for your age?" The individual in question simply crossed his arms and glared at the verdette.

"Okay, Machamp," she said. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Machamp looked down, shaking his head. _'I wasn't too much of a fan of how she was acting before, but this definitely feels like she's trying to have her cake and eat it, too.'_

" _I dunno, mister,"_ Zorua yipped, _"Lizzie seems alright to me! Besides, didn't you want to work with this PWE thing?"_

Eevee huffed in disapproval. _"She better not hear you calling her that, kit."_

" _Hey!"_ the fox barked. _"You have no right to call me that! I'm almost as old as you are!"_

" _You're still my junior,_ kit _,"_ Eevee sneered back.

" _This really isn't worth fighting over,_ " Machamp interjected, trying to diffuse the situation, only for them to both round on him.

" _You stay out of this!"_

" _I can handle myself!"_

The two then returned to their feud, entirely disregarding Machamp's efforts to de-escalate their argument, who merely threw up his arms in exasperation and defeat. Elizabeth looked on and sighed, "They can barely stand each other, how could they possibly stand me?"

The verdette blinked back the tears that were threatening to form and pushed the feeling down into the roiling mass of emotions that had been growing in her stomach for the past two weeks. Then, she picked up a pen in her right hand and began to fill out the last few forms in Machamp's application.

"Knock, knock," Jason said, standing in the threshold of the room. Elizabeth looked up at him, and he smiled. "Mind if I come in?"

"Sure, why not?" the verdette sighed. Jason walked in, ignoring the two Pokémon fighting in the background.

"Are you sure that you're alright, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth barely kept herself from rolling her eyes, forcing the irritation down to join its brethren. "Yes, I am, Jason. You don't need to worry."

"Really?" He sounded skeptical. "Then where did you get that scar?"

The verdette glared at him, but answered anyway, assuming that complying would get rid of him faster, "Tracksuit kid slashed me with a broken glass."

"Wait, what!?" the plum-haired boy exclaimed, "You can't just say things like that without context!"

"Fine," she huffed, "I got between him and his crush, and that angered him."

"You know, he glared at me when I tried to flirt with the girl, but I didn't expect him to be so possessive of her. Seems kind of extreme," he mused. He suspected that Elizabeth was holding some information back, but otherwise dismissed it. He then waggled his eyebrows. "Did you at least manage to kiss your _'Little Rose'_?"

"Just what are you implying _?_ " Elizabeth shot back, blushing slightly.

Jason chuckled a little, "Well—" He didn't manage to finish as the room was suddenly plunged into darkness.

"What the Hell!?" Elizabeth shouted and the fighting between Eevee and Zorua suddenly stopped. From the darkness, they could see Machamp suddenly tense up.

"What the…?" Jason muttered before pulling something out of his pocket and putting it to his lips. He then blew into it, and while he nor Elizabeth heard a thing, their Pokémon did as they clutched their ears.

" _Aaaaagh!"_ both Eevee and Zorua cried out in unison.

' _A little warning would have been nice,'_ Machamp muttered, having fought through the uncomfortable sound.

"…sorry." Jason awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. Soon, a faint glow could be seen from under the door, and Jason opened it–bumping into a few objects along the way–revealing a Growlithe.

"Thanks for getting here so quickly, bud," he said. "Would you mind giving us some light?"

The hound barked in agreement and increased the intensity of the glow her fur emitted, brightening up the room substantially. Elizabeth and the others could now see clearly and the Growlithe sat down, waiting for Jason's next request.

"Thank you, bud," he said, glad to be able to see again. "Now, we need to get back to the lobby."

"Any idea what happened?" Elizabeth couldn't help but think back to the Absol Saito said he saw earlier before shaking her head. She wouldn't allow herself to believe in such superstitious nonsense.

"I honestly have no idea. Probably just a blown circuit or something."

On the outskirts of the Daycare, on a large hill overlooking the entire facility, a lone man stood. Through a pair of night vision binoculars, he could see the Pokémon below whisk around in confusion as the lights suddenly gave out. The workers who were still there shouted in alarm before running back to the main facility, a few guests running after them. A small frown appeared on his face. The guests weren't part of the plan, but there appeared to be only two. He could adjust accordingly.

"All teams," he said into his radio. "This is Maxwell. The operation is a go. Proceed with the extraction."

"Yes, sir!" a chorus of voices shouted from the other radios. Maxwell allowed himself to smirk. A pair of red trucks rolled past him towards the daycare. As they did, he allowed himself the luxury of looking that the logo emblazoned on the back doors. To his pleasure, he saw a single red flare with black cracks appearing along it. They may only be but a remnant of something once far larger, but he knew that eventually, time would allow those cracks to heal and Flare to become a blazing inferno.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Happy Labor Day and here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Louise and company are now at the Kalos River Daycare and well, things went wrong almost immediately. Especially now that we can confirm Team Flare is still kicking. We have been looking forward to this arc for quite some time now, and I hope you all enjoy it. Now, onto the Q&A:

 **Sakura Lisel** : Technically, yes. Derflinger can be caught by any Pokeball. But, that depends on Derflinger and the others allowing it, which ain't going to happen.

 **reven4221** : Well, now we got the Evil Team. It really is a Pokémon story! As you can see, it is still Team Flare, but these guys are the Team Flare Remnant. More will be revealed about them and their structure in the coming chapters.

 **Pacer287** : Oh, don't worry. I knew you weren't offended. And thank you for your words. We try to put in natural world-building wherever we can.

 **MBenz4268** : Don't worry about it, man. After all, half of this story is built off of headcanons and removing game limitations. You did not come across as annoying.

That's it for the Q&A! We hope you guys enjoy, and stay tuned!


	29. The Strongest Mega-Evolution Returns!

**The Strongest Mega Evolution Returns  
(Outsiders Sidestory)**

Chapter 00: Preparing for the Ultimate Challenge  
Scene 1

* * *

Alain took a deep breath as he took in the sights. It had been quite some time since he'd last been to Lumiose City. He had spent the past few months traveling around Kalos, researching Mega Stones for Professor Sycamore. Now, the professor had all the data he needed for the near future, so now it was time for-

"Are you going to stand there all day?" an impatient voice asked from a ways ahead of him. Looking ahead, he saw that Mairin had already run off in the general direction of Professor Sycamore's lab.

"Wait up!" Alain called back, running off towards his friend. Mairin continued on at her usual pace, before suddenly stopping, and looking down at her feet. Her partner Pokémon, Chespie, had stopped, tugging on her leg and pointing.

"What's up?" Alain asked as he finally caught up.

"Chespie seems interested in that girl for some reason," the shorter trainer noted, slightly confused as she looked towards where Chespie was pointing. Alain followed her gaze, and found a girl with long, pink hair, staring intently at a map. For a moment, Alain wondered just why the Chespin was interested in the rosette, but he quickly had an answer, one that still filled him with regret. Chespie, ever since the incident where he had fallen into a coma after an encounter with a Zygarde Core, the Spiny Nut Pokémon had become slightly better at sensing odd energy. Not as skilled as a Psychic-types or Aura sensitive Pokémon, but his senses were more attuned to those odd signatures. Alain and Mairin had actually been using those senses to find Mega Stones and other peculiarities. If he was interested in that girl, then what could that mean?

"Do you need some help?" Mairin called out, startling Alain out of his thoughts. The other girl also jumped a bit, before turning around. She stared for a moment, then sighed in what appeared to be resignation.

"Er, yes," she admitted. "I'm looking for this City's Gym?" Mairin and Alain both paused at that, before Mairin started giggling.

"It's right over there, silly!" She laughed, pointing at the large tower at the center of the city.

"The Prism Tower?" The other girl asked, gazing in its direction. Her obvious confusion only made Mairin laugh even harder, only to be cut off by a grunt from her companion.

"Don't laugh. It's rude," he admonished, before turning to the pink-haired trainer. "But yes, the Prism Tower doubles as the Lumiose City Pokémon Gym." Seeing the embarrassment on the girl's face, he added, "Don't worry, it's a surprisingly common mistake. They really should mark that detail on the city maps."

"They really should," the girl muttered, shaking off her embarrassment. "Thank you very much for your help!" With that she ran off towards the tower. As she ran off, fond memories flooded back into his mind, and he allowed himself to faintly smile.

"Another trainer taking on the League, huh? Brings back memories, doesn't it, Alain?" Mairin asked, a fond smile on her face as she basked in the memories.

"You make it sound like it was years and years ago. It was only last year, you know," Alain chided. He then looked up at the sky. _'Someday soon...we'll battle again, Ash.'_

Chespie let out a small noise, reminding the two of why they'd noticed the girl in the first place.

"Ah," his Trainer gasped. "Think we should have-"

"We can't just stop a Trainer on the street and ask 'hey, have you been exposed to any weird energy lately,' now can we?" Alain pointed out. "If she's taking on the Pokémon League challenge, we'll probably see her again. For now, let's get to Professor Sycamore's lab."

"Well..." Mairin started. "Alright then. Last one there pays for lunch!" And with that, she ran off at full speed once again. Alain sighed in resignation, both used to and fond of the girl's antics, before throwing a PokéBall into the air.

"If that's what you want." He smiled as Charizard flapped his mighty wings.

* * *

Mairin gasped as a very familiar Charizard flew by. Alain, riding that Charizard, was smirking down at her.

"Hey! No fair!"

* * *

"Looks like you're paying for lunch," Alain pointed out.

"You only won because you cheated!" Mairin declared.

"You're the one who randomly declared that we were racing. You never said I couldn't ride Charizard." Mairin pouted for a bit, before giggling.

"What's so funny?"

"Sorry, it's just...back when we first met, you never would have even humored me by racing at all, let alone cheating like that," the girl explained. "You've really loosened up a bit since then, haven't you?"

"I suppose," Alain shrugged. "When I was working for Lysandre, I guess I always just felt more...on edge." He turned towards the doorway to Professor Sycamore's lab, and rung the doorbell. "After everything that's happened...it's nice to be able to relax a little. But now it's time to-"

Whatever Alain was about to say was cut off by the door opening.

"Alain! Mairin! Welcome back!" The professor greeted. "It's great to see you again!"

"It's nice to see you again too, Professor," Alain returned.

"How was the trip? Did you run into any trouble?"

"Nope!" Mairin denied.

"It was a pretty quiet trip," Alain confirmed.

"Well, come on in!" Then professor stepped to the side, waving them in. "I'm sure you'd like to see the lab again!"

"Where are Sophie and Cosette?" Alain asked, noting now suspiciously empty the lab was, as he and Mairin sat down at Augustine's table.

"They're off doing some important research in the mountains," Sycamore explained as he set out some snacks, mostly consisting of tea and cookies, as well as some Lumiose Galettes.

"How come you're not with them, then?"

"I had a few more things to take care of first, and then when I was about to leave, something else came up," the professor sighed, thinking of the pink-haired girl that had dropped in the night before he was planning to leave. "They contacted me this morning and said they'd finished up and will be back tomorrow afternoon, so it'd be pointless to leave now."

"I guess the life of a Pokémon Professor is pretty busy, huh?" Mairin chuckled, in between bites of a Galette.

"It is," Sycamore agreed, "but it all worked out for the best, I think. How has life been for you guys?"

"It's been great!" the sole female of the group shouted. "We managed to find a cave filled with stones just like the Legendary Giant Rock!"

"...We really need a better name for that," Alain muttered. "But yes. Near the Reflection Cave, we found another cavern lined with stones that gave off energy similar to the Giant Rock. Not as powerful, certainly, but similar enough to warrant further research."

"We also found some new Mega Stones while we were searching!"

"Not necessarily 'new.' It's already been known that they existed, I'd just never personally seen any before."

"You know what I meant," as she spoke, Mairin reached into her pack and slowly hefted out three large stones. "This one's for a Steelix, this one's for a Kangaskhan, and this one...we think this one's for a Latias!"

"Wow, impressive. Where did you find a Latiasite in Kalos?"

Unfortunately, whatever response the travelers would have given was interrupted by a happy growl, as a gigantic Dragon-type entered the room and nuzzled against Alain.

"Haha, it's good to see you too, Garchomp," Alain laughed, scratching the Land Shark Pokémon's head. "How have you been?"

The Dragon/Ground-type let off a happy trill, before backing up a bit, and pouting a bit towards the professor.

"Sorry Garchomp," he apologized with a smile, before reaching out to pet his partner himself. "I guess I should have told you when they got back."

Alain watched the exchange with a smile, but it dropped slightly when he felt his eyes wander towards the collar around Garchomp's neck. Or more specifically, the Garchompite that was embedded into it. Reflexively, Alain felt his wrist where he had once worn his own Mega Ring. He had given up his Key Stone and Charizardite X in the wake of the Kalos Crisis, but every day, he kept thinking back to that, wondering if it was the right decision...

"Alain..." Mairin's concerned voice shocked Alain out of his reminiscence, as he looked towards his traveling companion.

"Is something wrong?" Sycamore asked.

"Ah, no. Nothing," Alain insisted. "So, how have things been here at the lab?"

Augustine easily saw through the subject change, but nonetheless relented, telling some of the more humorous stories from the past few months. Many of which involved a peculiar girl with pink hair and a fiery temper.

* * *

 _A few hours later..._

"-And that's when I walked in and found her, hanging from Drifblim by her shoelaces." Mairin laughed uproariously at Sycamore's tale of the newest assistant at the lab (who'd apparently decided to take on the Pokémon League herself, which is why she wasn't here today). Alain was also struggling to hold in laughter, although his was much more subdued.

"Well, enough about me," Augustine said, moving on. "Have you two got anything you'd like to share?"

"That's right," Alain remembered, shaking off the last of his laughter. "I actually came here today hoping to talk to all of my Pokémon at once."

* * *

"Here they all are," Professor Sycamore said, gesturing towards the gathered crowd of Pokémon. Alain pulled six PokéBalls out from his belt, releasing the Pokémon he had on his person to join the crowd. Contrary to what many trainers they'd talked to believed, the six Pokémon Alain used to face Ash were not the only Pokémon who owned, as many trainers who faced off against his Breloom or his Scolipede could attest to. While Alain didn't have as many as many dedicated collectors, certainly, he did have over two dozen Pokémon, and while Charizard was with him constantly, he rotated the rest of his team fairly often. Charizard stood by his side, while the rest of his Pokémon congregated in front of him. Alain took a deep breath, before addressing his Pokémon.

"Hello, everyone," he started. "I'm going to start by thanking you all for what a great help you've been, and how well you've been handling this. I know it can't have been easy moving from Lysandre Labs' climate controlled environments to this lab, which while nice, is unfortunately more limited in nature." The younger trainer looked towards Professor Sycamore, who waved off his concern.

"It's fine. Continue."

Alain nodded, and did so.

"I'd also like to thank you all for what a great help you were during the Kalos League. Even for those of you who didn't end up getting a chance to fight, the fact that you were there means a lot to me."

Alain's Pokémon all let out a cacophony of noise, with meanings varying from 'you're welcome' to 'get to the point,' but they all quieted down as their trainer continued.

"That brings me to my next point. It's been a while since we won the Kalos League, and even while helping Professor Sycamore with his research, we've been training hard. And some day in the future, we're going to battle Ash again." The six Pokémon that had been there for that battle cheered in anticipation, remembering that as one of the most fun battles they'd ever had.

"That's why, when that day comes, I want to be ready to give Ash the greatest battle in either of our lives. Even greater than the last one. Of course, Ash has been getting stronger. I hear that he's been staying in the Alola Region recently, and is learning powerful new techniques called 'Z-Moves.' So of course, we'll need to challenge stronger opponents than ever before if we want to be properly prepared. Which is why, to that end..."

Alain paused for a moment, taking another deep breath, before declaring the rest of his statement.

"...We are going to challenge the Kalos Elite Four, and then Champion Diantha! And we are going to win!"  
—

Hello, everyone! Now, instead of a regular chapter this week, instead we are giving you all a Side Story, written by Catboy41! Unlike his previous Team Rocket omake, this side story is 100% Canon, and occurred during Episode 5. You'll be seeing side-stories every so often, and this is the first. Now, onto the Q&A:

 **Pacer287** : Trust me, you'll like the current arc we have planned.

 **MBenz4268** : While we will be getting into that more as we go on, the short answer is yes. The Elite Four have bigger roles in the world than just being strong trainers in a castle.

See you all next time!


	30. Season 1, Episode 7, Chapter 3

**Outsiders (Pokémon/ZnT Reverse Summon)**

 **Season 1, Episode 7, Chapter 3**

[~][~]

"I hope leaving Espirit with the babies was fine…" Louise looked back to hatchery from the field. "I should have stayed with her."

"You just wanted to stay with the babies," Saito accused with an amused glare. Louise raised her finger to retort, but the words caught in her throat and she sighed.

"…yes," she quietly got out, an embarrassed blush adorned on her face while Saito chuckled.

"Can't say I blame you. Those babies were adorable." Saito paused and tapped his chin. "I wonder how she's doing right now?"

* * *

' _Alright, kids! Who wants another ride?'_ Espirit happily announced as she gently lifted a laughing Magby up and down.

" _Me! Me!_ " the other freshly hatched Pokémon jumped up, trying to get her attention. Pichus, Elekids, Togepis, and many more were practically scrambling over each other before a quick look from Derflinger calmed them down. As they did, Espirit sighed contently to herself.

' _This was a good decision_.'

* * *

"Probably having the time of her life, to be honest." Louise shrugged. They ended up spending nearly an hour in the Hatchery just playing with the freshly hatched Pokémon. The two trainers barely managed to contain themselves from immediately joining in with their Pokémon as they played with the hatchlings just long enough to scan everything they saw. Then they joined in.

They tugged, pulled, and generally roughhoused with the baby creatures for the rest of their time there, with Joyce generously allowing it. Apparently, most visitors end up doing the exact same thing, and many nearby primary schools send children over on field trips to learn about Pokémon. As such, people playing with them was not only expected, but also encouraged. Saito got the faint sense that Joyce also found the sight to be adorable.

He didn't blame her. Had be been the one watching, it was likely that he would have felt the same thing. Still, all good things come to an end, and so Joyce had them bid adieu to the babies. That way, the two trainers could complete their tour before it got too late. Espirit, however, begged to remain behind, wanting to continue playing with the baby Pokémon. Louise and Saito chalked it up to her empathic abilities alerting her to their joy, which triggered a motherly instinct within her. At first, Louise tried to refuse, only for Espirit to give her the Ralts equivalent of a Growlith-stare. Louise stood no chance against that, and quickly capitulated. Derflinger offered to stay behind and watch over the Ralts, and so the trainers left with the rest of their Pokémon.

That was several hours ago. By now, the sun had fully set, and the moon was rising overhead, giving the ranch an eerie glow while floodlights illuminating the rest of the facility. The air was slightly warm and had a cool breeze blowing through it. Benefits of the summer air, he supposed, but that would only last another month at most. Pretty soon, he would have to replace his track suit with some lightly warmer clothing, especially once winter hit. Their experience in the Ice Box, an enclosure specifically made for Ice-type Pokémon, showed him and Louise exactly why they should move to winter clothes once the snow arrived. But, that was months away, so they had time.

Right now, Joyce was leading them through the Rocky Hills portion of the Daycare. Like the Ice Box and River, it was meant to house Rock and Ground-type Pokémon. The Pokémon had easily concealed themselves into the rocky terrain. A few times he and Louise almost stepped on a rock, only to find out it was an angry Geodude that Joyce had to calm subsequently calm down. Still, for the most part it was an otherwise enjoyable hike. They saw a wide variety of Pokémon from across all the different Regions, many of which Saito couldn't recognize without pulling out his Pokédex. Louise pulled hers out on every single new species, only to eventually stop trying due to poor reception.

"Joyce, quick question?" Louise suddenly asked, causing their guide to stop. Taking it as her cue, the rosecrown continued, "Why do those Geodudes look different than the others?"

"Hmm?" Joyce turned around and saw what Louise was talking about. Nestling alongside a magnetized rock was a Geodude. However, unlike the ones they had nearly stepped on, this one had a smoother, grey body with iron hairs sticking out of the top of its head.

"Oh, that Geodude is an Alolan variant," Joyce explained. Seeing how both trainers raised their eyebrows, Joyce continued. "Due to its remoteness from the other regions, several Pokémon common to other regions ended up developing unique variants to better survive in their environment. These variants ended up having completely different types than their counterparts because of these adaptations. The Alolan Geodude, for instance, is a duel Rock-Electric-type Pokémon, unlike the more common Rock-Ground-type."

"Really?" Saito raised his eyebrow. "Why'd it become an Electric-type?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Joyce smiled. "Alola is rich in several different types of minerals that have strong electromagnetic properties. As such, in addition to forming a large part of the Alolan economy, they produce a powerful electromagnetic field in certain areas. Alolan Geodudes ended up adapting to use those electromagnetic fields to their advantage, which caused their secondary typing to change from Ground to Electric."

"Fascinating," Louise hummed to herself. "What other—"

The lights suddenly gave out around the Daycare, plunging the world into darkness. At once, the Pokémon around them started in fright, not expecting the sudden change as did the people.

"What the Hell?!"

"Who turned off the lights?!"

"Everyone, calm down!" Joyce ordered, her voice rising into a shout for the first time since they've arrived. At once, the two trainers and their Pokémon went silent, although the daycared Pokémon were still bellowing in fright. Without missing a beat, Joyce pulled out a whistle and blew into it.

' _Gaagh! My ears!_ ' Maindo hissed as did the other Pokémon. Despite the pain, the Pokémon managed to calm down enough to allow for Joyce to hear herself think. As she did, Louise reached into her backpack and pulled out the headlamps she had purchased earlier that day.

"Good thinking," Saito thanked her as he strapped the device in place and flipped it on. Immediately a cone of light shone out from his forehead and another came from Louise's. The light seemed to soothe the Pokémon a little more before another light shone from Joyce's chest. The guide coughed, and the two trainers turned towards her, expressions of confusion on their faces.

"Joyce, what's going on?" Louise asked, confusion and fear seeping into her voice. Her Pokémon had already taken defensive postures around her, as did Saito's around him.

"I don't know." Joyce shook her head. "Power failure, maybe a blown fuse. It's odd, we had some guys do inspections last week…"

"Maybe they missed something?" Saito suggested, to which Joyce hummed and nodded her head.

"Possibly. Still, something doesn't seem right…" She trailed off and looked towards the main building, her eyes squinted. "We need to get back to the main building. Might be able to figure out what's going in in there."

The two trainers nodded in agreement and began to move towards the building, their Pokémon following behind. Aile flew out ahead of the others, making sure to move any scared Pokémon out of the way while Ronin and Brennaraki stayed near their trainers at all times. Taking up the rear of group was Tanuki and Maindo, a curious scowl on their faces.

" _You sensed it too, didn't you?_ " Tanuki said as the continued to run. Periodic, his eyes would flash a faint blue as he sent out pulses of Aura, trying to find glimpses of anything unusual.

' _I did,_ ' Maindo replied, a frown on his face. ' _But only for a moment. Something's interfering with my psychic powers, making it hard for me to see clearly._ '

" _My Aura, as well. You don't think that 'something' is actually 'someone', do you?_ "

' _Tanuki, I don't think. I know._ '

* * *

"I don't like this…" Louise whispered as they neared the main building, the lights still out. She didn't like it one bit, and the others couldn't help but agree with her. With each passing second, Louise was placing more and more credence to the Absol connection Saito and Derflinger had espoused just a few hours before. "Where did you say the circuit breaker was again?"

"It's on the outside of the building, towards the north side," Joyce revealed, unease seeping into her voice. "Stay on your guard. Something's wrong."

Quietly, the group made their way around the building, the soft cries of Pokémon sounding in the distance. For a moment, Saito thought he could hear the sound of an engine running somewhere, but it quickly went away. Pursing his lips, he continued onward towards the circuit breaker, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.

"There, found it," Joyce announced as they neared a small metal box attached to the building wall. A metal tube ran out from the bottom an into the ground, connecting to local power grid and distributing electricity across the entire facility.

"No sign of breaking in," Saito pointed out. Indeed, the lock on the circuit was still there, locked and untouched. Joyce hummed as she fiddled with the lock, testing it for any signs of breaks before fishing into her pocket for the key. As she did, a faint rustle was heard from behind them, causing Saito to whip around to try and find it. Instead, he found nothing, but he felt that to be more unsettling.

"Tanuki, Maindo, do you see anything?" Saito whispered, seeing that his two Pokémon were staring intently all around. Slowly, they shook their head while Maindo sent images into his brain. From what he could tell, they both thought something was off and that something was interfering with their senses. After the experience with the Unown, they couldn't' afford to be complacent, and Saito's guard grew.

"Got it!" Joyce said as she unlocked the metal box. "Let's… What in the world?"

Saito turned back towards the circuit breaker, a question forming only to die as he took in the state of the circuit breaker. It was completely fried, much more so than simply a blown fuse. He had seen blown fuses several times in his life, but this was no blown fuse. It was as if a small explosive went off in it, destroying the entire thing and leaving it irreparable.

"Did it… _explode_?" Louise gasped with wide eyes while Joyce's eyes narrowed. Her fingers gingerly touched the scorch marks, soot rubbing off as her hand went away. Her eyes widened when saw something stick out among the wrecked electronics, tiny fragments of what appeared to be a radio transceiver, and in that instant, she understood what had occurred.

"Sabotage…" she hissed and clenched those fists. "Those bastards…!"

"What? What happened?"

"Someone tampered with the circuit breaker! Put a remote explosive in there to blow the entire thing!" she shouted, utterly enraged.

"Who would have…" Louise trailed off as she remembered something Joyce had said earlier. "Didn't you say that you had someone come in last week to inspect it?"

"Yes," Joyce angrily hissed, cursing herself for trusting them.

"Thieves?" Saito suggested, his head whipping around as he tried to find anyone nearby.

"Probably." Joyce scowled before her eyes widened slightly. "Oh, Arceus… There here for the eggs!"

Louise's eyes widened, understanding Joyce's conclusion. Sycamore had explained it quite well to her, that Pokémon Eggs are among the most prized commodities in the world. Given how tightly regulated their trade is, however, this has given rise to a large black market from irreputable breeders, poachers, or even thieves. Each egg could go for thousands of Pokédollars each, and the Daycare had hundreds of them. It was immediately clear as to what the target would be.

"We have to get to the hatchery! Now!" Louise ordered. Without waiting for their approval, Louise shot up and prepared to move when a voice suddenly cut out in the darkness.

"Oh, that won't be necessary," the voice darkly said, amusement in his voice. Immediately the three and their Pokémon whipped around to the source to find a man standing before them, hands in his pocket and wearing a fine suited red uniform. Dark maroon sunglasses shielded his eyes from the blinding lights shining on him and he smirked once Saito and Joyce recognized the insignia on his suit jacket.

"Team Flare! But…you were all arrested!" Joyce yelled out, vividly recalling the last time she had seen Team Flare in action.

"Minor setbacks," another voice replied as a woman wearing a Flare uniform emerged from their flank, a confident smirk sending chills down their spines. From the other side, a third man appeared, also waring the Flare insignia, leaving the three trainers and their Pokémon surrounded. "I suggest that you surrender your Pokémon now. Before we're forced to dirty our hands."

Joyce was shaking in her boots. Regular poachers and thieves she could handle easily with much thought. But a rejuvenated Team Flare, the same terrorist group that had nearly destroyed Lumiose a year ago, trying to steal the Pokémon under her care? The thought enraged her.

"Go to Hell," she hissed as she unclipped two Pokéballs from her belt and released them. In a shine of light, two mouse-like Pokémon joined them. Louise recognized the two creatures as a Marill and a Pikachu as they took battle-ready stances. With a silent look to each other, Saito and Louise did the same thing with their Pokémon, all conveying their unwillingness to concede.

"I was hoping you'd all fight back," the woman laughed. "More enjoyable that way." At once, each Flare Grunt released three Pokémon in blasts of light. Each Grunt had released the same team of a Zubat, Houndour, and Skorupi, and his frown deepened. That lasted for only a moment, and before the Grunts before him could order an attack, he and Louise acted first.

"Tanuki, Quick Attack! Maindo, Shadow Ball! Ronin, Water Pulse!"

"Brennaraki, Psywave! Aile, Razor Wind!"

At once, their Pokémon attacked, their respective moves shooting towards the most applicable opponent. For Brennaraki, this meant that her Psywave shot down a nearby Zubat, who screeched in surprise as before landing with a thud. At once, the Fennekin was on it, turning into a flaming ball as she used Flame Charge against the downed bat. Before she could make contact, the Zubat turned its head and used Supersonic, sound making Brennaraki's head hurt and stopping her in her tracks. The world became fuzzy as the fox tried to retain her comprehension, only for the Zubat to latch onto her and bite down on her shoulder.

" _Gagh!_ " she screamed in pain as the Zubat used Leech Life on her. She could feel her strength being leeched into the Zubat, and she wasn't about to let him continue. With a cry, she suddenly tipped herself over and slammed the Zubat into the ground, an action that tore its mouth off of her body. Seizing the initiative, Brennaraki used Flame Charge again to deliver a scorching headbutt to the creature, an action that hit with enough force to bounce the Zubat off of the ground. As it flew through the air, Brennaraki fired another Psywave, striking it in its head and sending it back down. She then shot a Fire Spin that consumed the Zubat, and as it shrieked in pain she finished it off with a final Psywave.

Almost as soon as she did, she was struck by a Houndour, sending her skidding on the ground. Another Zubat raced down from above, shrieked at her with another Supersonic while the Houndour released a purple Smog from its mouth and shot towards the struggling Fennekin. Before the smoke could reach her, it was buffeted away by Aile's Razor Wind, a few striking the Houndour while she used Quick Attack on the second Zubat. The two Flying-types entered into a dogfight, a clash of feathers and beak against leathery wings and fangs. It quickly became apparent that Aile was the faster among them, and so the Zubat attempted a new tactic. It struck her with its wings, knocking her way as it then flapped them together, forming a single slice air as it used Air Cutter. The attack struck, sending Aile down and cutting a few of her feathers, but before she could crash she twirled and flew back up, using her downward angle to increase her velocity. This only increased the power of her Quick Attack, which blindsided the Zubat. The blow struck the Zubat's back and sending it groundward. Rather than fly away, Aile latched onto the descending bat and began pecking incessantly. She continued her assault even after the Zubat landed until it finally stopped trying to resist. She then flew out and reengaged the enemy, renewing her Tailwind in the process.

Brennaraki continued to engage the Houndour with bites and scratches, neither of them using their natural Fire-type abilities as they both recognized a fellow Fire-type. Still, for what Brennaraki had in speed and agility, the Houndour made up for it in sheer bulk and size. It was much larger than her and the Pokémon was using that to its advantage. Throwing its weight around, the Houndour knocked Brennaraki down to the ground before lifting her up with its jaws to slam her back down. She cried out in pain, but before she could counter, a blue blur rocketed into the large hound, knocking off of her.

" _I had it handled_ ," she grumbled as Tanuki helped her to her feet.

" _Sure you did_." Tanuki smiled before ducking under an Ember. " _Go help Maindo with the Skorupi. I got the Houndour._ " Without waiting for her retort, Tanuki used Quick Attack on the Houndour, knocking it slightly back. Before it could recover, his paws glowed blue as he used a series of Force Palms on the Dark-type, each blow striking hard and fast. The Houndour was unable to recover nor counter, and with one final uppercut was sent hurling skyward. As it fell, he grabbed hold of it and spun, releasing the black hound and throwing it into another. As they tried to rise to their feet, Tanuki fell upon them with more Force Palms, knocking them unconscious.

Brennaraki watched this before moving to help Maindo deal with the Skorupi, although from what she saw it didn't appear as though he needed much help. The large scorpions had been attempting to grab hold of the small fairy the entire duration of their fight, to no success. Every time they would get close to pinch, sting, or bite, Maindo would either Teleport out of harm's way or would turn out to be an illusion instead. He would then counter with either Confusion or Shadow Ball, with Shadow Sneak being used on occasion. From what she could see, he knew that, and was growing more and more confident.

' _Come on, you insects! How hard is it to hit little ol' me?'_ he taunted while waving his body back and forth. In anger, one of the Skorupi charged at him, only for the Ralts to teleport atop its head, a Shadow Ball already forming in his hand. The scorpion clicked in alarm as the Shadow Ball was launched from Maindo's hand and into its head, creating a small cloud of smoke and dust which obscured the other Skorupi's vision. Not waiting for the Ralts to emerge, the other two Skorupis launched Pin Missiles from their tails, peppering the cloud of dust. For several prolonged moments, the two Pokémon continued their fire before stopping.

' _Missed me_ ,' Maindo taunted from behind. Before they could react, Maindo grabbed one with his Psychic powers and began assaulting his mind, making the Skorupi thrash in pain. The other Skorupi, attempting to rescue its comrade, attacked with Pin Missile, only for Maindo to maneuver the captive Pokémon and intercept the flying pins. As the captive Skorupi took the blows for him, Maindo smirked and launched the held Pokémon towards the other, knocking them both down like bowling pins.

' _Honestly, this is what you call an attempt?!_ ' Maindo taunted as he slowly walked over, Shadow Balls forming above his raised hands. ' _It's pathetic! Well, if you thought you could just waltz on in here and kidnap a bunch of_ children _, you—"_

Maindo was cut off as the third Skorupi, the one he had thought defeated earlier, launched a Pin Missile at his back. At the last second, he sensed the attack and moved to evade, only to open himself up to the other two Skorupis. Their combined assaults pummeled him, forcing him to his knees as he attempted to defend himself, only for the criminal Pokémon to circumvent his attempts.

" _Hey, assholes!_ " Brennaraki called out as she ran towards them, attracting Maindo and the Skorupi's attention. The Bug-types immediately moved to fire Pin Missiles towards her, only for the barbs to be incinerated by Brennaraki's Ember. The fireball continued towards the Skorupi, one of which was unable to dodge and became consumed in flames. As it thrashed around in pain, Maindo grabbed one of the remaining Skorupis and slammed it into the other, which Brennaraki immediately pounced upon with Fire Spin. Maindo, seeing red, repeatedly slammed the Skorupi into the ground as hard as he could.

" _Maindo!_ " He didn't hear her as he continued to pummel the creature. " _Maindo! Stop!"_

' _What?!'_

" _It's done._ " Brennaraki finally calmed Maindo down, forcing him to look at the beaten Skorupi. With a sigh, Maindo dropped the Skorupi and walked away without saying a world. Brennaraki eyed him before looking down on the Skorupi. Seeing how it was unconscious, she walked back over to her trainer, who was now holding the female Flare Grunt by her coat.

" _When did-?_ "

' _The Pikachu paralyzed one of the Flare Grunts, Saito started pummeling one and Louise blew one up with a small explosion within the first few seconds of the fight,_ ' Maindo revealed without breaking his stride.

" _Huh… Guess when your opponents are outlaws, regular rules don't apply._ "

' _Nope._ '

The two Pokémon continued walked towards their trainers, the rest of the Pokémon already with the trainers. Joyce was hovering over the Grunts, their clipped belts being held by the daycare worker while Saito and Louise were interrogating the criminals. Idly, Brennaraki noted that one was covered in a thin layer of soot and was staring at Louise with fear-filled eyes. She liked that look.

"Now then," Louise calmly stated, holding her wand in her hand, "while don't we start from the beginning. I want to know your plans, your strategies, how many of your are there. Everything. If you lie," she pointed her empty finger at Tanuki and Maindo, "we have two Pokémon who will be able to tell if you are. So, for your sake, please don't."

"Yes! Don't blow us up again!"

* * *

"Somethings wrong," Jason whispered as he and Elizabeth crept through the darkened hallways of the daycare. By now, they should have come across either Kurt or Wayne, the security guards, patrolling the hallways with flashlights in hand. They might have even seen Charlotte working at the IT desk to try and fix the problem.

No one was there. That unnerved Elizabeth and Jason tremendously as they followed Growlithe and Machamp. A million theories zipped through Elizabeth's head. They could be on an inopportune dinner break. They could be trying to contain panicking Pokémon outside. Maybe they are just being lazy and dozing off. None truly made the pit in Elizabeth's stomach go away. She couldn't help but feel a gnawing fear in the back of her mind that something far worse was going on.

"Maybe…they're trying to fix the power?" she halfheartedly suggested, to which Jason shook his head.

"Not likely. Charlotte, maybe, but we have procedures in case of a power outage. Kurt or Wayne is supposed to guard the eggs while the other patrols the hallways," Jason revealed. "We haven't seen either of them and it's been ten minutes. We aren't that far from the guard station."

"Then…" Elizabeth paused, trying to collect her thoughts. "Why aren't they here?"

"Ain't that the million-dollar question." Jason shook his head. "Let's get to the guard station. There, we might be able to get some answers."

The two continued their way through the darkened halls, coming across nothing. In the distance, muffled through walls, Elizabeth thought she could hear thuds coming from outside, but dismissed them as a few daycare Pokémon having a spat. Odds are, with the power out, they would be more agitated than normal. At least, that's what she told herself.

"Okay," Jason whispered as they rounded a corner, "the guard post should be just beyond…. Oh my God."

The guard post was an absolute mess. Scorch mark and burnt holes littered the ground, ceiling, and walls, with chunks of debris covering the floor. The work desk was smashed, caved in from a heavy blow, as were the broken chunks of computer in the corner. At once, Elizabeth and Jason understood exactly what had happened and their worst fears had been realized. A fight had broken out inside the guard post and judging by how Kurt nor Wayne were anywhere to be seen, they must have lost.

"Jason, look," Elizabeth pointed to a nearby door, slightly ajar. Seeing the door, Machamp and Growlith nodded to each other before silently making their way towards it. Taking positions on opposite sides, Machamp motioned for the trainers to make their way over, which they silently proceeded to do. Once there, Elizabeth took position behind Machamp and allowed herself to peek inside. What she saw made her blood run cold.

"I'll ask again," the Flare Grunt said before socking Kurt across his jawline, "what are the codes for the Hatchery."

"Go…" Kurt spat out a red glob onto the grunt's jacket, "… Go to Hell…"

The grunt smiled and cracked his knuckles. "Wrong answer." He then proceeded to punch Kurt again and again. As he continued to wail on the large man tied to a chair, Elizabeth stared wide eyed into the storage closet the grunt was using as an impromptu interrogation room. Lying against the wall was the slumped forms of a Dragonite and an Arcanine, their bodies heavily bruised and battered. She saw an equally large man strapped to the wall, equally bruised as Kurt, and recognized him as Wayne. Behind him she saw the crimsonette Charlotte, the daycare's computer intern, cowering in the corner as a second grunt leered over her intimidatingly.

"I told you! I don't know the code!" she cried and whimpered. "I've only been here for a few weeks!"

"Shut up!" the second grunt, a woman judging by the voice, snarled. "I've had enough of your whimpering! Now, be quiet or you'll join your friend in the chair."

"Please, no."

Elizabeth scowled at what she was seeing, both at the brutality shown as well as the mere sight of the Flare grunts. She was in Lumiose when Flare attacked the year before. It nearly killed her, and for a while the mere sight of the color red enraged her. While that went away after a month, the same couldn't be said for the presence of a Flare grunt. Those terrorists nearly destroyed the world out of some horrific attempt at purification and not only were they still around, they were here, trying to break into the Hatchery. This, Elizabeth immediately decided, would not stand. Judging by the look on Machamp's face, he felt the same way, and with a nod she allowed Machamp to proceed with whatever plan he had already cooked up. He nodded back and silently took a few steps back from the door, hunching himself forward.

"My hand's getting tired. Tell me the codes and—" Whatever he was about to say was cut off as Machamp rammed through the door, launching it into the surprised grunt's head. He didn't even have time to turn around before the wooden door bowled into him and sent him careening into the wall, where he stayed for a few moments before falling onto the ground. The other grunt was equally surprised and twisted to face the intruders, his hands already going for a clipped Pokéball, only for Growlith to jump through the open threshold and fire an Ember at the man, setting him slightly ablaze. As he flailed, Elizabeth ran into the storage room, ripped a fire extinguisher off the wall, hit the grunt with it before unhooking the nozzle and using it on him, extinguishing the flames.

"Jason, get Kurt out of the chair," she ordered as she finished dousing the flames. As they died down, she dropped the cylinder onto the unconscious grunt before calmly walking over to Wayne.

"…Okay," Jason said with wide eyes before tentatively stepping into the room. "That went by quick."

"Wasn't about to let terrorists fight back," Elizabeth replied while she continued to untie Wayne. Jason nodded then walked over to Kurt and knelt down behind the chair.

"…Heh, took you long enough…" Kurt coughed as Jason began untying the binds around his hands.

"Sorry, we didn't know what was going on," Jason apologized as he finished untying the ropes, allowing a sore Kurt to stand upright. "What happened?"

"We…ugh… When the power went out, Kurt and I were sitting at the guard station," Wayne answered, Elizabeth having freed him "Charlotte was with us, but she went to try and get the power on while we went to the hatchery."

"They were already inside the storage room," Charlotte revealed, her voice quivering and her body shaking, "downloading the databases on all Pokémon inside the Daycare. When I walked in, they quickly cornered me and took me hostage, and took Raticate's Pokéball from me."

"Why didn't the servers go out with the power?" Elizabeth asked the intern.

"Separate independent power system that's entirely focused on the data center. Keeps the computers on while also protecting it from outside hacking attempts, even if the power for the rest of the facility went out." Charlotte rubbed her shoulders. "By the time I arrived, they were about a quarter of the way through. One stayed behind while the other two took me to try and get into the hatchery. When I didn't know the codes, they tried to get Kurt and Wayne to tell them under threat of hurting me."

"We weren't about to let that happen, so we tried to stop 'em," Kurt spoke up. "With my Dragonite and Wayne's Arcanine, we made quick work of their Pokémon."

"Then how did you lose?" Jason asked, administering medicine to the broken Pokémon before him.

"They…" Kurt sighed shamefully, "They overwhelmed us. As soon as one went down, they simply sent out another Pokémon, healed the first one, and repeated the process until our Pokémon went down."

"Death by a thousand paper-cuts…" Elizabeth whispered, realizing what their plan was. It was quite ingenious, actually. These guys must have known that they could never have beaten them in a straight fight, so they didn't bother. "Glad we got them first, then."

"Same here. Thanks, missy." Kurt smiled before wincing. "We…we need to get to the hatchery. We didn't give them the code, but they could still be trying to get in."

"None of that matters if they get the servers!" Charlotte protested. "There is data on every Pokémon we have in there, past and present! They get that data, they get access to our complete network and the Daycare's Pokémon would be under the complete mercy of Team Flare. Not to mention data on every trainer who's ever kept Pokémon here."

"Meaning they could steal the Daycare's Pokémon for ransom. And they'd know exactly who to extort and how to do it," Jason finished.

"Exactly! Not to mention the server room's the only place with power in the whole compound. It's the only place we can call for help!"

"But they're here for the eggs," Wayne protested. "Data can be recovered, but not those eggs. We lose those eggs, we ain't getting them back." The two continued to argue, making Elizabeth increasingly frustrated.

"Both of you, shut up!" she yelled. The room went quiet as everyone stared at her, and she rubbed the bridged of her nose. "Here's what we are going to do. Jason and I will head to the hatchery and make sure the eggs are safe. Charlotte, you, Kurt, and Wayne will head over to the server room and stop them from hijacking the data. Then you will get the phones working and call the police. Got it?"

The others all stared at her silently, mulling her suggestion over before nodding. Without saying another word, they all ran out the door and split apart, each going to their separate destinations. With any luck, they'd get there in time. But, despite this, Elizabeth couldn't shake the feeling that things were about to go from bad to worse.

* * *

As soon as the power went out across the entire facility, plunging the world into darkness, a shadow crept across the field. Fences, doors, and walls didn't stop it's advance. As it moved, shadowy tendrils shattered security measures and locks, allowing a team of grunts to enter the facility while it continued on. It's goal was in the center of the facility, where the most valuable targets were stored: the Hatchery. Only when it neared the metal door to the hatchery did the shadow cease and allow itself to reform into the shape of zippered puppet.

Banette was smiling to itself. Despite the additions of two extras, the plan was going off without a hitch. Already the daycared Pokémon were being contained for future ransom while the server was being downloaded. Now, all it had to do was simply open a portal inside the hatchery for its masters, allowing them to enter unimpeded and steal the eggs and hatchlings. They'd be out well before any police could arrive.

The Banette slinked back into a shadowy form and began to phase underneath the metal door. From the other side, one could have seen a dark pool form under the metal door, slowly extending outward until the entirety of it was amassed on the other side. Once fully phased through, the pool reformed back into a Banette, a wicked smile emblazoned on its face. This smile widened once it saw the frightened faces of the hatchlings staring at it from across the hatchery, their faces betraying their terror. One Machop stood in front of them in a combat stance, likely trying to protect its fellow hatchlings. Banette thought it was cute, and as it came closer, the Machop took a step back in fear.

" _Hehheheh_ ," it cruelly laughed, causing the hatchlings to shiver. Banette knew it was supposed to open a portal but couldn't help but want to mess with the hatchings for just a little bit. They could wait five minutes.

' _Excuse me_ ,' a feminine voice suddenly spoke, causing the Banette to go upright and its smile to disappear, ' _I think you are in the wrong room_.'

Banette turned to see a Ralts glaring at him from the side. It quickly formed a Shadow Ball, only to be blasted by a Disarming Voice. The Fairy-type boosted soundwaves sent the Banette flying through a wall, only for it to soar back in, enraged at the interloper. It could only assume that one of the trainers left this Ralts behind in the Hatchery, but the answer to 'why' escaped it. Banette didn't really care, all that mattered was putting the interloper down for the transgression of interfering.

The Ralts launched another Disarming Voice, but Banette flew around it while using Shadow Sneak. The shadow extended towards the Ralts and delivered and uppercut, launching her into the air. Banette attempted to follow with a Shadow Ball, only for the Ralts to teleport away from view and reappear behind it. She shouted with another Disarming Voice, crashing the Banette into the ground with a loud thud.

' _Leave. Now_ ,' she demanded, to which Banette responded by gritting its teeth. With a snarl, Banette glowed with a Dark Aura that quickly spread to the Ralts, enveloping her in its dark cloud before dissipating. Seeing how she wasn't harmed, she used Disarming Voice again, only to clutch her throat at the sudden pain.

' _Spite_ ,' she realized through the tears. Banette quickly followed with another Shadow Ball, forcing her to teleport away yet again. Upon reappearing, she formed and launched Magical Leaf towards the Ghost-type, the leaves cutting into it. Undeterred, it suddenly disappeared into a purple void. For a moment, the Ralts remained on guard, scanning for any sign of the Ghost-type, only for it to suddenly reappear in front of her from a purple portal. She didn't have time to react before it slammed into her, the Ghost-type attack wracking her small body and sending her flying away in pain.

" _How did you think this was going to end?_ " the Banette asked as it walked towards her, the Ralts feebly attempting to pick itself off the ground. " _I'm a Ghost-type, you're a Psychic-type. This was only ever going to go one way._ "

' _Eh… Oh, I knew how it would end…_ ,' Ralts revealed as she looked up at Banette, a confident smirk on her face. ' _I was just the distraction._ '

" _Distraction? From what?_ "

"From me." Before Banette could react, a metal blade swung through the air and impacted against Banette's side, hurtling it to the ground. It didn't have the chance to get up before the Honedge repeatedly struck with Aerial Ace, the swings too fast for the Banette to even attempt at dodging. After several moments of uninterrupted wailing upon its body, the blows let up and the Banette let out an involuntary sigh of relief, only for the Ralts to rejoint the assault by forming another Magical Leaf and launching it towards the Ghost-type. Now afraid, the Banette got up and attempted to flee, seeing that the battle was quickly turning against its favor. As it did, a dark energy enveloped the Honedge as it used Pursuit, its power boosted by the Banette's very own retreat. The final attack launched it through the Hatchery walls, and this time it didn't return.

* * *

"And stay out, you demented puppet!" Derflinger yelled as the hatchlings cheered at their saviors. Nodding to himself, he turned to look at a panting Espirit, noticing that she was clutching her side tightly. "You alright?"

' _I'll be fine_ ,' she shook her head. ' _Right now, the only thing that matters is keeping the babies and eggs safe._ "

"Still, you're hurt. I think you should stay put until we get you patched up."

' _I said I'm fine!'_ she shouted this time, sending Derflinger slightly aback.

"Okay, okay. Geez. Just being a concerned elder and all," he grumbled before turning back towards the door. "See anything?"

' _Louise and Saito have finished their battle against the criminals, and Elizabeth has recused the security guards and the intern_ ,' Espirit rattled through, her breathing growing more labored as she covered her body with a sputtering glow. ' _The guards and the intern are currently retaking the server room and halting the… And the intern hit the grunt with a chair, knocking him out. Server room is retaken and now she is trying to fix the phones._ '

"Reestablish communications first. Smart move," he hummed in approval. "Louise and the others?"

' _They're almost here. Elizabeth and the boy with her, the receptionist I believe, are as well._ '

Almost as soon as she said that, one of the metal flew open and Louise ran into the room, Brennaraki hot on her heels. Upon seeing the Ralts, Louise ran towards her and embraced her Pokémon, who quickly embraced her back.

"Espirit, thank the Founder your alright!" she cried out and hugged slightly tighter, causing Espirit to slightly wince. "Your hurt!" Louise exclaimed as she quickly pulled a Full Restore from her pack.

"What happened in here?!" Saito asked as he ran into the room, Joyce following behind him.

"A Banette came in here to try and steal the eggs and hatchlings, likely for the criminals currently sieging the daycare," Derflinger revealed. "We fought it off, don't worry. I think it was trying to open a portal."

"Bypassing our security. Dammit!" Joyce cursed. "We need to call the police, the League, anyone! Hell, I'd settle for Rancher Bob!"

"Charlotte's already on it," Elizabeth revealed as Jason opened the other metal door. "Kurt and Wayne are currently keeping her safe while he fixes the phones, once they retake the server room."

"Already happened and they are working on the phones right now."

"How do you—" Jason paused once he saw Espirit, currently having her wounds tended to by Louise. "Oh, right. Psychic-type."

"Obviously," Elizabeth rolled her eyes before turning to Louise, pointedly ignoring the Honedge floating near her. "Now then, can someone explain to me exactly what is going on? Why is Team Flare back, and why are they attacking the daycare?"

* * *

"So, to recap," Joyce droned as the others all looked at her, "we have roughly twenty to thirty Team Flare operatives, each with six Pokémon and likely utilizing the swarm strategy that took down Kurt and Wayne, and we won't have the phone's fixed for at least an hour."

"Six of those operatives have already been taken down, so that helps us out at least," Saito pointed out, but even then, he could see the odds were stacked against them. "Now, I normally wouldn't be the one to suggest this, but taking out their trainers seems to be the best plan of attack. Otherwise, they'll just keep healing their Pokémon."

"They're criminals. Normal battle rules don't apply," Louise darkly muttered, directing a pointed glare at Elizabeth. She ignored it.

"I agree. Take out the trainers and their Pokémon will be easier to handle," Elizabeth said. "Kurt and Wayne currently have the server room protected, which means we can focus our attention here."

"What about the rest of the Pokémon?" Joyce pointed out in worry.

"Without that data, the other Pokémon are useless," Elizabeth pointed out. "They wouldn't know who to ransom the Pokémon to, and you can't tame an already owned Pokémon. Right now, I imagine they're only trying to make sure that the other Pokémon don't interfere."

"Doing a good job of it, too," Jason muttered. "What exactly are we going to do. We can't just all stay in here. We'd be Magikarp in a barrel."

"We'll split up," Louise suggested. "We have one person stay here while the rest take defensive positions outside and in the halls. Block all entry points."

Elizabeth thought it over then nodded to herself. "I'll stay here, watch over the eggs."

"What, so you can steal them, too?" Louise snarled, sending the others slightly aback.

"Listen, you little brat!" Elizabeth shouted back. "I am not a thief! The last thing I want is for Team Flare of all people to get these eggs! So please, for five minutes, stop being such a—"

"Okay, calm down! Both of you!" Saito intervened. Louise moved to protest, but a hard glare from Saito told her she had crossed a line, causing her to go quiet. "Elizabeth, thank you. Your Machamp is probably the strongest Pokémon we have on hand right now, and your Zorua can handle any other Ghost or Psychic-types, so you looking after the eggs is for the best."

"My thoughts exactly," Elizabeth nodded gratefully. It appeared to her that he wasn't entirely useless.

"Joyce, Jason, you two take the hallways leading into the hatchery. Louise and I will take the outside walls."

"Sounds good to me," Jason nodded, Growlith barking next to him.

"Same with me," Joyce nodded. "These people will _pay_ for trying to steal the Pokémon under my care."

Their plan set, the others stood up and, with the exception of Elizabeth and her Pokémon, ran out of the hatchery. Joyce and Jason ran out the north entrance while Saito and Louise ran out the south, with Elizabeth sealing the room behind them with loud, mechanical clanks.

"Listen," Saito said as they continued to run down the hallway, "I know you don't like Elizabeth. Hell, I don't like her that much, either. But you need to stop letting your personal feelings override your better judgement. She is trying to help, so let her."

"But-!" she moved to protest, only for Saito to stop and wheel around to face her, his face warped in anger.

"No, Louise! You crossed a line back there! You don't get to hold grudges when lives are on the line!" Saito barked while pointing at her, sending Louise aback with wide eyes. Seeing her expression, he sighed and shook his head. "We'll talk about this later. Right now, the only thing that matters is making sure we get through this in one piece. Alright?"

"…alright," Louise quietly replied. With a slow nod, Saito continued on, with Louise following behind. She knew he was right, but her hurt pride refused to let her voice the admission. Besides, he was also correct that right now, any apologies didn't matter. Right now, the only thing that did was protecting the hatchery.

As they finally exited the building and entered the cool night air's embrace, the two companions looked at each other. With a mutual nod, the two split apart and ran to opposite sides of the building, out of each other's sight.

"You gonna handle that afterwards?" Derflinger asked as they raced towards the outer wall, his mind thinking back to the rosette.

"Later. Right now we have other things to worry about," Saito replied, his tone leaving no room for argument. As they neared the outer wall, they heard some muffled sounds and slowed their pace. Hiding behind a rounded corner and turning off his headlight, they poked their heads around and spotted another trio of Flare grunts at the wall, their Pokémon out of their Pokéballs and, from the looks of it, preparing to break in the old-fashioned way. Saito scowled at the criminals and looked to his Pokémon, their faces scrunched in silent glares.

' _Any bright ideas?_ ' Maindo asked to the others, sending images into Saito's head to communicate with him. Without saying a word, Saito relayed his hastily thought up plan of attack, one that would hopefully end this group quickly.

' _Alright. I'll teleport up top and attack first. You guys swoop in afterwards,_ ' Maindo relayed the plan to the others, his telepathy masking their group discussion from the criminals in front of them. As they all nodded, Maindo teleported away with a faint pop, one that the criminals thankfully didn't hear. For a moment, the boy strained his eye to try and see his Pokémon until he felt Tanuki poke his leg. Looking down, he saw the Riolu pointed towards the top of the nearby building. Following the outstretched limb, Saito saw the diminutive Ralts looking down on the criminals, a Will-O-Wisp already forming in his hands.

"Go," he whispered as quietly as he could. Despite the distance, he knew Maindo could hear him. He was rewarded by a faint-blue fireball zooming towards the nearest Pokémon, a Zubat judging by the cries. The wisp impacted the blue bat and heavily burned it. Loud shrieks rang out across the field, alarming the other Pokémon and criminals and forcing them to stop trying to break down the walls. At the same time, the rest of Saito's Pokémon moved from their hiding spot and launched themselves towards the criminals. Taken by surprise, they quickly overpowered their opponents and moved on to the next, only this time having to dodge incoming attacks of their own.

"Stop those Pokémon!" a grunt yelled out as he tended to the wounded Zubat. Saito recognized the spray bottle as a Burn Heal as he shoulder-checked the brightly suited man and knocked him into the ground. Rather than let up, Saito jumped on top of the grunt and began to throw punches onto the criminal, only for another one to grab him and throw him off.

"Ooof!" he grunted as he landed. Without pause, he rolled away as another grunt tried to stomp on his head. As the grunt came for another hit, Saito kicked upwards into the man's groin, causing the criminal to bend over in agony. Another kick to the chest knocked the criminal down, allowing Saito to rise to his feet just as the second criminal charged him. Saito met him and in the ensuing brawl the criminal brought the Unovan boy back onto the ground where he began to rain punches onto him. Saito could only defend himself as he tried to find a way out of this mess. Finally, he grabbed the arm of one of the thrown punches and pulled down while he raised his head up into the descending grunt's nose, breaking it.

"Gaagh! You bastard!" the criminal wailed as he clutched his bleeding nose and backed away.

"I'm not the one trying to rob the place!" Saito barked back as another grunt charged at him from the side. Saito shoulder checked the grunt and followed up with a swift kick to the face. The other grunts wearily kept their distance, allowing Saito the chance to check on his Pokémon to see that they were again winning the fight. Yet, he could also see several discarded medicine bottles lying around, causing him to frown.

"Oooh," the grunt on the ground groaned as he tried to get up. Saito responded by picking the man up and throwing him a few feet away. The grunt landed with a thud and then tried to rise to his feet, the other grunts rushing to help up their fallen comrade.

"I'm going to say this once. Leave. Now." In the back of his mind, Saito felt that giving the grunts a moment to plan might not work out so well for him, but at the same time he felt giving them a chance at surrender would be the right thing to do. For good measure, he cracked his knuckles to get his point across just as the last of the Flare Pokémon were defeated.

"Grrgh!" one of the grunts growled as he returned his defeated Pokémon, as did the others. As soon as they did, they turned and ran off, leaving Saito and his Pokémon behind.

"You know they're going to heal their Pokémon, right?" Derflinger noted as the backs of the grunts disappeared into the night.

"I know," Saito replied as he pulled out one of the many Full Restores Louise had given him. "But so are we."

* * *

On a hill overlooking the facility, illuminated only by moonlight, Maxwell and a few of his grunts watched over the operation and tended to injured Pokémon. While they might not be directly participating in the assault, they were just as vital for the mission's success. They worked diligently and silently, entirely focused on their assigned tasks.

" _What a beautiful night. Chew."_

' _Did you seriously just say 'chew' out loud?_ '

At least some of them were.

" _So what if I did?"_ the first replied, " _It's not like anyone can hear me."_

' _True_ ,' the second sarcastically conceded, ' _but we both know you only did that to annoy me._ '

" _What? Sue me, I'm bored. Chew_."

' _Please stop, Lucario. I will hurt you if you don't._ '

" _Okay, Gallade, message received."_

Gallade rolled his eyes at the flippant response, not believing his partner in the slightest. ' _Now, if you will at least_ _try_ _to remain professional, we might just get the capital we need to keep this operation running._ '

" _If_ _I_ _remain professional?"_ Lucario huffed, " _This part of the heist is a cakewalk!"_

' _Have you already forgotten about that pair of complications?_ ' Gallade retorted.

The Aura Pokémon shrugged. " _In hindsight, it was probably unrealistic to assume that there wouldn't be any visitors there when we cut the power, but two trainers aren't going to be enough to turn the tide at this stage. 'Sides, I'm not the one who lets his tendencies jeopardize the mission_."

Gallade's expression darkened. _'I thought we agreed to forget about that._ '

" _Lighten up, buddy! It was just a joke,"_ Lucario said, laughing. " _But, I can assure you that I'll be taking this seriously, even if I do think that the doofus could probably do this on his own._ "

' _The doofus also managed to lose his Banette_ ,' Gallade shot back, causing their companion to flinch. Behind them, they could still hear the cries of the man tending to his wounded Ghost-type. The sounds made them roll their eyes in disgust and annoyance.

" _True, true. However, I still hold that this is going to be a picnic compared to what we've done in the past,"_ Lucario paused for a moment, then turned to look Gallade in the eyes. " _Chew_."

' _Why you_!' Gallade cried, tackling his companion to the ground. Maxwell rolled his eyes as they began to fight among themselves, the Alolan having gotten used to their antics by now. He continued to look through his night-vision goggles across the daycare, and what he saw made him scowl. Things weren't going to plan. Sure, the daycare's Pokémon were being contained, but the infiltrators hadn't returned. Given how the Banette had been forced back violently, he could only guess that someone was inside the Hatchery, which meant that people were inside the facility. That indicated that his men were likely captured, causing the admin to purse his lips.

"All units," he calmly said into his radio, "abandon the extortion attempts. Refocus all efforts on taking the Hatchery."

" _Yes, sir!_ " his lieutenants quickly responded.

"Leader Maxwell?" one of the grunts beside him spoke up in confusion. "Why are we-?"

"The infiltration team has likely been captured. At this point, they must be working on bringing the phones back online. Once they do, we will have a very short time to fall back before the police arrive, and tying to round up Pokémon for ransom will only slow us down. Better to grab the eggs and bug out while we can."

"Of course, sir. If I may?"

"Proceed." If there was one thing Maxwell prided himself on, it was his ability to listen to his subordinates. Just because a person was lower on the totem pole didn't mean they inherently had bad ideas. He just had to sift through the bad ones.

"I think it would be best if we focus all of our attention on a single point. So far, we've been trying to attack everywhere at once. But, if we instead focus on a single point…"

"We can punch a hole in their defenses. Or force them to reconvene at that point and open up their flanks." Maxwell smiled at the suggestion. The more he thought about it, the more he liked it. He began to scan the facility, trying to find a weakness to exploit, when he saw a trio of grunts running across the field. One of them clutched his nose, likely broken, while the other was hastily throwing discarded spray bottles on the ground.

"Lieutenant," Maxwell said, starting the grunt at the impromptu promotion, "please see to it that those three are disciplined properly. They're leaving evidence behind."

"Of course, sir," the lieutenant nodded with a scowl, his hands rubbing over one of his Pokéballs. Maxwell followed their path towards the facility wall and found they were running away from a boy wearing a blue tracksuit. He recognized him as one of the trainers he saw in the field when the power was cut, and he had four Pokémon with him. All of them were being tended to, but even from here he could see the wounds on their bodies. An obvious weak point if he ever saw one.

A muffled yelp of pain drew the Alolan from his thoughts and he turned to try and find the source of the noise. He saw that Gallade had Lucario pinned face down, the Aura user's arms held securely against his back.

Maxwell sighed. "If you two would stop fooling around, I think we have an opportunity." At this, both Pokémon perked up, wicked grins forming on their faces.

' _I guess the wait is over,_ ' Gallade said, helping Lucario to his feet.

" _Point me at 'em, and I'll knock 'em dead!_ " Lucario cried.

"Glad to see that you two are eager," he smiled and pulled his radio to his lips. "All forces, reconvene on the southwest wall."

" _Yes, sir!_ "

* * *

"Why did I volunteer for this?" Elizabeth muttered, "Absolutely nothing is happening!" Machamp gave her a look at her outburst, almost concerned by her words. Upon seeing this, she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

" _Urgh._ It's not that I have a problem with the fact that the others have managed to keep the Flare grunts away from here, but I just feel kinda useless," the verdette retorted. "Even Charlotte is helping out, and she just doesn't function when under any kind of pressure!"

For a moment there was silence, then Eevee loudly sneezed, making her displeasure known. Machamp sighed and turned back towards the hall, knowing what was about to happen.

"Really, Eevee?" Elizabeth choked out, hurt by her partner's cold indifference. "Do you not care that this place is literally under attack?"

Eevee just snorted in reply. Elizabeth made a strangled, choking sound before regaining control of herself and storming across the room. Machamp glared at the unrepentant Eevee for a moment before focusing back on what was happening on the outside of the wall.

" _That was really mean of you, Eevee!"_ Zorua growled. _"Couldn't you see she was at the verge of tears?"_

" _Elizabeth doesn't cry,_ " Eevee sneered back, " _Especially not over something as trivial as that._ "

" _Even still!"_

" _A kit like you couldn't understand, even if you spent your entire life with her._ "

" _Hey!"_

" _Ladies, this isn't the time to be bickering amongst ourselves,_ " Machamp said, harboring some vain hope that they'd actually listen to him. As they snapped towards him, he saw that hope was misplaced.

" _I told you I don't need your help!"_ Zorua snapped.

" _The kit's right, you shouldn't keep smothering her,_ " Eevee snidely added.

Machamp sighed and turned towards Elizabeth. She was currently tending to one of the hatchlings, escorting it back into the internal saferoom along with all the other eggs and closing the door behind it. He allowed himself to faintly smile at how tender she was being. The other two would just keep fighting until something threatened them, but maybe he could help his nominal trainer. Especially when she's actually doing something noble for once. However, something made him pause. There was a sound, almost too faint to pick out, but it was there, and something about it niggled at the back of his mind. Against his better judgement, he pressed his ear to the wall and listened. It took a while, but he finally managed to pick out the sound, and what he heard froze him cold. The sound of clashing steel could be plainly heard now, and he could have sworn he heard someone chanting "Hey, hey, hey, come on!" over and over. There were a _lot_ of muffled explosions sounding outside, causing the wall to faintly shake with each blast, causing him to back away from the wall.

"Machamp, what are you doing?" Elizabeth said, walking up to him. The Superpower Pokémon began to reply, only to be interrupted by a loud _crack_ as Derflinger's thrown body carved a clean hole in the wall and embedded himself in the floor across the room, dents and scorch marks marring the ancient sword's body. Elizabeth gasped in shock and began to back away from the downed Honedge, only to feel her back touch the wall. The ancient blade roused himself and, lacking the power to make himself levitate, began to scan the room from his position on the floor, only to freeze when he saw Elizabeth and his eyes widen in sudden panic.

"Get away from the—!" he tried to shout out a warning, only to be cut off by another voice.

" _Ayayayaya!_ " it cried, then its owner blew the wall inwards. For Elizabeth, time seemed to slow as she flew across the room, bringing her arms up to shield her face before she hit the ground. Small chunks of debris pelted her arms, creating shallow cuts and some bruises while also sending the other Pokémon flying back with yelps of pain and surprise. As the dust settled, Machamp slowly rose to his feet and caught sight of the culprit while taking a protective stance in front of Elizabeth. Silhouetted by the light of the full moon, the tall Pokémon cracked his knuckles and straightened his neck before letting out a sigh that almost dripped with contempt.

" _Ayyyyyyyy_ ," Lucario breathed out with a cruel smirk.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders, and it's a doozy! At 10k words, its our longest chapter yet, and our heroes have their greatest challenge yet!

This brings me to an announcement we have. Due to outside commitments, mainly school and work, we can no longer keep to our weekly update schedule. As such, we are moving to a semi-weekly update schedule. Instead of a new chapter every week, we will now be updating once every two weeks. We hope you all understand and continue to enjoy our story.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **Pacer287** : I understand. We posted that chapter last week because this one wasn't quite ready and we didn't want to leave you guys hanging. We do, however, plan on doing more Sidestories, not necessarily on the same characters as the last one. But, from now on, they will be posted in between episodes and not chapters.

 **Guest** : That is because Louise right now is focusing on becoming a great Pokémon trainer, not on improving her magic. This is, in part, due to the lack of anyone to really teach her. But, as this chapter shows, she will be using it should the situation call for it.

 **Tsukiko K** : Saito will not be Louise's familiar. In fact, she won't be getting a familiar in this story, as instead she'll be getting six Pokémon. There's no need, after all. As for Elizabeth and Maindo, their arcs are very important to the story and we hope you and others will enjoy them.

That's it for this week's chapter. We hope you all enjoy!


	31. Season 1, Episode 7, Chapter 4

**Outsiders (Pokémon/Familiar of Zero Reverse Summon)**

 **Season 1, Episode 7, Chapter 4**

* * *

"Brennaraki, use Psywave on that Zubat! Espirit, use Disarming Voice on that Houndour! Aile, use Aerial Ace on the Skorupi!" Louise ordered once more as she ducked under another fist. She was really starting to appreciate those self-defense lessons her mother made her go through as she kneed the man in the groin then socked him across the jaw. One kick to his head later, and she was already having to dodge away from more attacks.

"Burn the witch!" one of the grunts yelled, and Louise, rather than feeling fearful, merely felt incensed.

"Witch!? I'm not a witch! I'm a mage!"

"What's the difference?!"

"One's a blasted heathen selling their soul to the devil for power. The other is kicking your ass." Louise promptly blasted the man with a small explosion, knocking him back into a nearby tree straight into unconsciousness.

It had been roughly an hour since they all split apart, and she had been under siege for nearly the entire time. At first, the criminals merely assailed her from afar, preferring to send out their Pokémon to try and whittle her down. After putting down the same team of Pokémon for the third time, she recognized the tactic for what it was and decided to close the distance.

Once she got within spitting distance, the Grunts started ordering their Pokémon to attack her. At first, it was simply to disorient her Pokémon, not quite realizing that her and Saito's training regimen was designed to allow for their Pokémon to have autonomy. But, after she started blowing them up with her spells, they started attacking her out of sheer self-defense and fear.

They were right to be scared.

"You know," she began to taunt as she jumped behind a tree as a barrage of Poison Stings struck the other side, "you guys might want to find another career path. Terrorism isn't a good long-term option. Bad for the health!"

"Oh, like you'd understand our beliefs!" a female grunt shouted as she applied another potion to her Pokémon. "What we're doing will change the world and rid it of the—!"

"Blah, blah, world is ugly, blah blah, humans and Pokémon to blame, blah blah, kill everyone. Did I get it right?" Louise asked with a mirthful smile on her face.

"Why you little…!"

"I'm going to take that as a yes! Well, seeing how you are all a bunch of homicidal maniacs, I don't feel guilty about doing this," Louise declared as she leaned out from behind her tree and aimed at a tree next to the gathered Flare grunts. "Fireball!"

The base of the sycamore tree exploded into splinters, forcing the criminals to cover their eyes. A few were knocked to the ground, unable to keep their footing. As smoke cleared, they looked up and saw the tree began to teeter precariously before falling towards them. They quickly scrambled to their feet, only for a psychic field to hold them down and allow the tree to pin them with its branches. Louise heard their cries of pain as the tree pinned them, and with a victorious smirk she walked over to inspect the now captured criminals and their Pokémon. In the distance, she could hear the others retreat, but she paid them no heed.

"Good job, guys," Louise said as she relieved the Flare grunts of their potions.

"When I get out of here…" one of the male grunts hissed in anger, his voice soft from having the wind knocked out of him, and Louise merely rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, how about no. Espirit, mind practicing your Hypnosis on them, please?" Espirit nodded then focused intensely on the pinned criminals. Her eyes turned white as a bright glow emitted from them. Transfixed, the Flare grunts couldn't help but stare into the light as they slowly became drowsier and drowsier. Finally, they fell into a deep sleep, marked by gentle breathing.

"That was great, Espirit!" Louise congratulated her Pokémon, who tiredly smiled at the praise. "We just need to make sure it goes by faster next time." She paused and looked around to see that no one else was with them, and Louise allowed herself to smile. Things were finally looking up.

"Wonder how the others are doing?" she asked to herself before turning to the Ralts at her feet. "Mind checking in with the others?"

Espirit nodded then concentrated, a purple aura enveloping her eyes. Images then flashed across Louise's mind, notifying her of how the others were doing. Like her section, they too had little difficulty. In fact, the number of Grunts they had to fend off was rather low. Normally, that would have been good news to the noble, but the more she thought about it, the more it didn't make any sense.

"Espirit, what can you tell me about their attack patterns?" Louise suddenly asked, to which more images flashed into Louise's mind. They all told her the same story. The attacks were heavy at first before slowing down into a trickle. Almost as if they were retreating. Or reconvening somewhere else.

"Louise, how's Saito?" Louise suddenly got worried. When she got the same images as last time, she then noticed something odd. The images pertaining to Saito seemed to almost be repeating on a loop, unlike the others. Her worry rising, Louise then did something she hadn't previously considered.

"Espirit… Check on Elizabeth, please." Elizabeth should have been completely safe in the Hatchery, away from the fighting as it were. Espirit skipping her made sense.

When the images came into her mind, she realized just how wrong she was, and immediately broke off into a sprint while Espirit warned the others and Aile flew as fast as she could to her friends.

* * *

Everything hurt.

This wasn't the first time Elizabeth had been in such a condition, in fact it wasn't even in the first ten, if she counted _those_ memories. However, she could only think of one, maybe two prior occasions when the cause of the injuries was still in the room and capable of inflicting more harm on her. The verdette preferred not to think about those times.

Fighting through the pain, Elizabeth opened her eyes, hoping that she might see someone coming to help. Ironically, Derflinger was the first thing she saw, though, trapped as he was by the rubble, he was unlikely to be of any help. Even then, she couldn't really bring herself to care as she took in her surroundings. Much of the Hatchery lied buried in rubble, with canisters knocked off of their shelves and tools scattered all around. She was glad they had already moved the eggs into the central room, but that only lessened the anxiety somewhat. The verdette couldn't see any of her team, and while she knew that Machamp was behind her, neither Eevee nor Zorua were anywhere in sight, and that worried her.

" _Ayyyyyyy…."_

Everything snapped into crisp focus at that sound, and Elizabeth quickly rolled herself onto her back. Her chest felt like something was weighing it down, but whatever it was lost among the mental noise of all her instincts screaming at her. Eyes the color of varnished wood met her emerald gaze as her assailant took note of her sudden movement, Elizabeth suddenly became quite terrified.

He smiled, tilting his head slightly. _"I would stay down if I were you. I'd rather not have to harm such a delicate flower as yourself any more than I already have."_

Elizabeth was momentarily taken aback by the fact that she could, in fact, understand the Lucario, but even that was drowned by the cacophony of voices screaming at her to _move, move, move!_ She followed those instincts and prepared to push herself off the ground, but Lucario immediately noticed the movement. A cruel smile blossomed across his face, and Elizabeth went very still.

" _Shame,"_ Lucario drawled, pretending to be regretful while cracking his knuckles. _"Guess I'm going to have to break your face."_

Before he could do anything to her, Machamp roared and charged the blue Pokémon as he began to coil his aura around his fists. Lucario began to turn towards him, but by then it was too late. The superpower Pokémon tackled the aura user through the hole in the wall, then threw him across the field.

" _And stay out!"_ Machamp cried after him while Elizabeth backed herself into a corner.

Lucario simply laughed as he rose to his feet, _"You've certainly got some spunk challenging me to a duel."_

" _What?"_ Machamp said.

" _You heard me,"_ Lucario said, surrounding himself in his aura. _"Now,_ GET OVER HERE! _"_

Lucario charged forward, closing the distance in less than a second and leaping into the air. Machamp barely managed to catch Lucario's feet before they were driven into his face. Snapping his legs apart, and bringing Machamp's arms with them, Lucario crossed his arms and struck at Machamp's face. The force of the hit was enough to make the grey Pokémon stagger and clutch his face in pain, and his opponent capitalized on that, gracefully backflipping out of the hold and flinging Machamp into the air in the same movement, his foot glowing blue.

" _Don't think I'm done with you!"_ Lucario cried as he broke into mad laughter. _"I'm not going to stop 'till you're six feet under!"_

"Lucario, wait—" a voice yelled, but it was too late. With a yell of adrenaline, Lucario shot himself after the receding Fighting-type. "You were supposed to stick with us," the man finished lamely. Sensing an opportunity, Elizabeth began to rise, but a sinister presence stopped her cold.

' _Ehh…'_ a bored voice echoed in her head, _'At least he had the decency to take his fight away from our objective.'_

"Still," the grunt continued as he entered the room, eight others following in his wake, "I felt safer having him by my side."

' _Just do your job, Grunt,'_ Gallade drawled as he followed the man in, _'Besides~, I think I have just the thing to keep our little "surprises" under control.'_

"If you say so," he replied, heading off to the hatchery as the others trailed behind him.

Gallade turned to Elizabeth, smiling darkly. _'I wouldn't recommend doing that, especially if you care at all about him.'_ With that, he turned slightly, allowing the moonlight to illuminate his captive. Elizabeth felt her breathing hitch as she saw who the Pokémon was carrying, but Derflinger responded far worse.

"Saito!" he screamed, horrified at his friend's condition. Saito was badly bruised, and a gash on his forehead caused blood to drip down his face. His breathing was labored, but even then, he was trying to break free.

"What did you do to him?!" Elizabeth shouted, surprising herself.

' _Me? Nothing, yet…'_ he replied ominously.

Saito coughed, giving his captor a heated glare. "Bastard… I saw what you did to Maindo…"

' _Maindo?'_ Gallade queried. _'Oh, you mean that Ralts? Well, he reminded me a lot of myself when I was younger. All brash and arrogant, putting on a façade. Decided that he needed to be taken down a few pegs.'_

"By torturing him?!" Saito all but screamed at him.

' _I wouldn't call it torture, but the face he made when he realized that he couldn't teleport or call for help was pure gold,'_ the Blade Pokémon said, a sadistic grin forming on his face. _'But, to tell you the truth, just the memory of his screams as I made him relive his mother's death over and over still makes me weak in the knees.'_

"You monster…" Saito snarled. Gallade just laughed.

' _I'd worry more about yourself if I were you,'_ he murmured as he began to lick the blood off Saito's face, making the boy squirm. _'After all, you're the one with a blade at your neck.'_

Elizabeth shuddered as she looked on, tears forming in her emerald eyes as she felt herself being torn in three different directions. She should run. She should curl up and hide. She should charge him. She should scream for help. She should stay quiet. She should save her. She should, she should, she should…

' _You shouldn't squirm, boy. If you do, my arms might slip,'_ Gallade said moving his arm slightly. _'Just like that.'_

Saito cried out as the blade pressed into his neck, and just like that, all the screaming voices in her head fell silent before all shouting in chorus. She felt her body move almost on its own as she acted out the moves and patterns that had been seared into her mind all those years ago.

Grasp the hilt firmly, but not too hard.

Blue silk tightened around her left hand.

"Elizabeth?"

Rise smoothly, every wasted move is an opportunity for death.

The room flew by as she closed the distance.

"Put me down!"

Something let out a squeak of surprise, and Elizabeth felt power flow into her as she swung the sword up.

' _What!?'_

Bones cracked, and she felt the force of impact travel down the blade. The green swordsman stumbled back from the unexpected blow, losing his grasp on his hostage in the process. His arm hung limply at his side, clearly broken while he glared at her, an odd mixture of anger and pleasure swirling in his red eyes. Elizabeth merely glared back, not noticing how she was still holding onto Derflinger's hilt.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN MIND! YOU'RE LUCKILY I'M NOT TRYING TO POSSESS YOU!"

' _That was very stupid,'_ Gallade said, _'But I don't think you're going to have a chance to regret it.'_

The verdette charged at him with a yell.

* * *

Louise had never run as fast or hard as she was currently going her entire life. She'd be impressed with herself, but right now she couldn't care less. Now she heard the sounds of battle and cursed herself for not hearing them earlier.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she cursed as she continued to run around the outside of the building, not even acknowledging the others behind her. Espirit had contacted them immediately, letting them know what Flare's plan was and that Saito was captured. Charlotte was still working on the phones, apparently almost there, but Wayne and Kurt left to try and help. Hopefully, they'd get to them in time.

She rounded the final corner, allowing the sight of Saito's position to come into view, and she gasped. The entire wall was shattered, marked with holes, craters and scorch marks, and Flare Grunts worked on healing their battered Pokémon. She could see Ronin being held down by a pair of Houndours, attempting to rise to his feet but each time getting knocked back down. Maindo was standing still, a horrified expression on his face as he stared into nothing. Espirit whimpered as their states while Brennaraki growled.

What shocked her most of all, however, was inside the building. She could see Elizabeth swinging a shouting Derflinger at an injured Gallade, screaming her heart out with each swing while Saito was slowly getting to his feet, wobbly and heavily bruised and beaten.

She saw red, and with a yell she pulled out her wand and began casting just as the other Grunts noticed her presence.

* * *

"Oof!" Elizabeth grunted as Gallade gut-punched her, sending her sprawling onto the ground. She gagged and heaved, clutching her stomach in pain while Gallade stomped over to her.

"Elizabeth, you need to run! Now!" Derflinger shouted at her, still too weak to move on his own power. Elizabeth merely groaned.

' _Have to admit, you've lasted longer than I thought you would,_ ' Gallade said as he kicked the verdette into a desk. ' _Frankly, that lucky first hit is the only reason why you aren't dead right now. That and, well, beating you to a pulp is just too much fun. Plus, I like the pain. Makes me feel alive._ '

Gallade grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up face to face. She swung a still exhausted Derflinger at his head, only for the Psychic-type to catch it bare-handed. He then twisted her wrist, breaking it then socked her across the jaw, hard enough to hurt but not enough to end the fight. The blow knocked her head back, and her vision became dizzy and blurred.

' _Well, it's been fun,_ ' Gallade said as his arm glowed, ' _but it's time I ended this.'_

Elizabeth's eyes widened and she attempted to struggle, but his grip was too strong. With a wicked smile, Gallade threw a punch at her, only for a black ball of fur to slam into his head.

" _Get away from her!_ " Zorua yelled as she clawed at him. Gallade snarled as he attempted to throw the fox off, only for Eevee to slam into the back of his heel, knocking him onto his back.

' _Damned rats!_ ' Gallade roared as he lifted Eevee with Psychic and threw her into Zorua. The two young Pokémon yelped as they impacted each other, each rolling across the floor before stopping on their feet.

' _So, you got some spunk, do you!_ ' Gallade screamed in anger. _'Fine, then I'll just put you down, too!_ ' He shot forward, his arm-sword glowing white as he attempted to use Slash on the two Pokémon. Eevee leapt to the side while Zorua shrouded herself in illusions, revealing her body to be that of a piece of rubble. At the same time, Eevee retaliated with Covet and Zorua used Pursuit. The attacks struck, forcing the Pokémon to raise his arms to defend himself. He followed with a mighty roar, his face warped in a mad smile, his sword now glowing purple as he used Psycho Cut on the Eevee, the attack too fast for her to dodge.

" _Aagh!_ " she screamed as she soared through the air. Zorua quickly shrouded herself again, just as Gallade slammed his fist into the ground where she once stood.

"Eevee!" Elizabeth screamed as her starter hit the ground, while she herself attempted to get off the ground.

"No, stay down!" Derflinger protested, wrapping his sash around her arm for the first time and halting her movements. At once, painful memories coursed through her, ones that Derflinger picked up on. He immediately released his grip.

"Don't…do that!" she growled at the Honedge as she rose to her feet. Zorua and Eevee were still fighting the injured Gallade, his broken arm the only reason they hadn't been defeated already. Slowly and shakily, she rose to her feet and began to walk forward.

"Elizabeth, stop!" Derflinger protested again, his eye boring into her. "You are only going to get yourself hurt."

"So I should just let him hurt my Pokémon!?" she shot back. The fight was still ongoing, but slowly and surely, Gallade was beginning to wear them down, despite his injury. Zorua's illusions were no longer working, forcing her to clumsily dodge the larger Pokémon's strikes, often to no avail. Eevee was having similar luck, but as Gallade moved to strike her yet again, she kicked loose rubble into his eyes, blinding him and allowing her to get away.

"I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is that you are only human, and he is a Gallade. He will _kill_ you!"

"Then what would you have me do? Just sit back and watch him kill my Pokémon and steal all the eggs?!"

"Let me take control," Derflinger said, causing Elizabeth's breath to hitch. "I know they hurt you, but I promise you that I am not like them. Right now, I'm too hurt to move on my own and if you try to do something, you'll only get yourself killed. I know how to fight, both as a Pokémon and as a sword, so please. Trust me."

"I…" she was interrupted by the pained scream of Eevee being crushed by a Psychic hold, while Zorua gasped for breath as Gallade held her neck in a vice. Without thinking, she charged at him, and as Gallade turned towards her with a wicked smirk, Derflinger acted.

"Sorry, kid," he said as he wrapped his sash around her for a second time. So focused on the Pokémon in front of her that she didn't even notice her movements becoming more graceful, so when Gallade threw Zorua at her, she simply dodged the projectile and swung Derflinger at him, his blade glowing with Sacred Sword. The blast knocked the air out of Gallade's lungs, sending him flying into a nearby wall and releasing his hold on Eevee.

' _Why you little-!_ ' he growled as launched himself forward. Guided by Derflinger, Elizabeth grabbed his sheath and used it to deflect a Psycho Cut while Derflinger used Retaliate. The attack, boosted by the force of Gallade's slash, cut into his chest and sent him staggering back. He growled as he glared at the two while Eevee and Zorua ran to Elizabeth's side and growled right back. His eyes narrowed upon seeing Derflinger, and a thought came to mind.

' _Alright then,_ ' he declared as he ran towards the three. Immediately, Eevee and Zorua attacked him with Covet and Pursuit, but he ignored them as he zeroed in on Elizabeth. Derflinger launched another Sacred Sword, only for Gallade to tank the blow with his good arm and use Slash with the other. Derflinger moved to block, only for the Normal-type attack to phase through his Ghost-type body and straight into Elizabeth's gut.

"Guagh!" she grunted as the Slash knocked the air out of her lungs. Her vision began to blur once more, but already Derflinger was moving to retaliate, trying to keep her moving back as Gallade continued his assault. No longer was he using actual moves on the Pokémon nor finding sick pleasure from the pain. Instead, he was directing his entire attention on Elizabeth, taking advantage of Normal-type and Fighting-types move's tendency to phase through Ghost-types to strike her directly. He was relentless, and although Derflinger was able to force Elizabeth to dodge most of the attacks, the ones that did imparted enough force to cause severe bodily harm. Her ribs became cracked, her eye swollen, and cuts appeared all across her body, staining her shredded clothes. It was only thanks to Derflinger's efforts that she hadn't keeled over already.

At the same, the constant barrage of retaliatory attacks from Derflinger, Eevee, and Zorua were beginning to wear him down. A trickle of blood ran down from a gash on his forehead, both of his arms were now broken, his leg dragged behind him due to a swollen ankle, and his movements became much more sluggish. The fight would be over soon, it was only a question as to who would fall first.

' _Just lay down and die!_ ' Gallade yelled as he launched himself forward once more, so enraged that he had tunnel vision. Then, his injuries finally caught up to him, as no one was able to support him. His arm refused to rise, he tripped on his swollen ankle, and it became hard to breathe from the cracked ribs. At the same time, Zorua hit him with Feint Attack while Eevee used Tackle on one of his broken arms, making him cry out in pain and giving Derflinger an opening to uppercut his jaw with one final Sacred Sword, boosted by a quick use of Swords Dance, and sent the Gallade flying upward. As he fell, Eevee and Zorua launched a barrage of Covets, Pursuits, Tackles, and Fury Swipes, with Gallade unable to defend himself. The attacks continued even as he hit the ground hard, and soon he stopped moving. Only then did the two foxes relent and back away from the fallen Pokémon. He didn't get back up.

Elizabeth allowed herself to catch her breath, looking down at her ragged, bloodstained dress. Everything began to fade, and she felt herself begin to fall. Then she stopped, almost like a puppet on a string. There was something in her left hand, and she let it go.

She fell.

* * *

Outside the Hatchery, things were as chaotic as they had ever been. Louise's arrival had caught all of their attentions and prevented them from stealing any more of the Eggs they had already loaded onto trucks and sped away, despite Dragonite and Arcanine chasing after them. At the same time, it also released Ronin and Maindo from their imprisonment, and now they were fighting tooth and nail to both get to their injured trainer as well as simple retaliation. Maindo, tired and exhausted after his horrid ordeal, was a swirling ball of psychic rage, hearing his opponents' cries for mercy but sparing none. For once, Espirit agreed with him.

"Skorupi, Sludge Bomb!"

"Houndour, Dark Pulse!"

"Zubat, Air Cutter!"

A hail of gunk, dark energy, and blades of wind rained down on Esprit, and she was sent flying, hitting the ground with a thud.

" _Espirit!_ " Brennaraki and Aile cried in distress. Unfortunately, this moment of distraction allowed the army of Pokémon they were fighting to get some more hits in, knocking them back. They of course retaliated with fire and beaks, but forced back they were.

As she lied on the ground, Esprit looked around her. Tanuki, Ronin, and Maindo were all with Saito, tending to his wounds and preventing anyone from nearing him. Eevee and Zorua were both sticking near their own Trainer, who was unconscious, and rightfully so after her clash with that Gallade. Derf was also hovering near her, panting slightly and dented in place. Machamp was still brawling with Lucario, both of them equally matched. The daycare workers were sticking close to the eggs and babies and fighting as best they could, but they were starting to get overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. Louise was hiding and launching explosions with reckless abandon, being sure to hit as many Flare Pokémon and Grunts as possible. Herself, Brennaraki, and Aile were the only things between the army of Zubat, Skorupi, and Houndour, and the eggs and hatchlings that were in the care of the daycare.

Despite their best efforts, Espirit knew things were bad. Strong as they were, they couldn't hold out forever. Not against these kinds of numbers. She didn't know what to do.

But...as a Ralts, she had the ability to feel emotions.

She could feel the desperate fury of her friends, her Trainer, and their rivals. She could feel the infuriating smugness of the Flare Remnants and their army, assured that they had won.

With the amount of emotions around her, it was a little hard to tell where the emotions of the people and Pokémon around her stopped and where her own begun. But some emotions, the ones that rang stronger than all the others in the area, were the Pokémon she was protecting. Both the baby Pokémon, and the ones yet to hatch. After all, Pokémon could still experience the world around them, even in their eggs. Nobody really knew why.

But they could. And so she could feel them.

And that's why...she wouldn't give up. She _couldn't_ give up.

The unhatched Pokémon in their eggs, the baby Pokémon, barely a few days old. The fear they felt, it was almost physically painful. But more important to her was their hope.

They were hoping with every fiber of their being that somehow, someway, the older Pokémon could save them.

She had to answer their hopes. She couldn't let them down.

' _I…'_ she started, forcing herself back to her feet.

" _Hm? You want something, squirt?_ " A nearby Skorupi laughed, launching another Sludge Bomb at her. A wave of psychic energy emerged from the Ralts' body, blowing away both the Sludge Bom and the Mon that fired it.

' _I won't give up! I can't give up_!' She cried. ' _Everyone here...they're all counting on me! That's why...that's why..._ _ **I'm not going to lose!'**_ Her last words seemed to echo, as she felt a burst of power running through her body. Everyone else in the area covered their eyes, as a bright blue light enveloped the Feeling Pokémon.

"What's going on?" Louise asked, peeking through her fingers as her third Pokémon appeared to grow taller.

"Esprit is-" Saito started, amazed at the sight before him as the others all simply stared in awe and shock.

"-Evolving!" Derf finished.

"This is...evolution?" Louise had heard about this phenomenon, certainly. Sycamore had described it as one of the biggest mysteries of Pokémon. But seeing it for herself was something else entirely.

"No! Stop that Ralts!" One of the Flare Grunts called. A few Skorupi reared their stingers for a Sludge Bomb but were interrupted by a burst of fire from Brennaraki. A few Houndour gathered flames in their mouths but were interrupted by a spray of water from Ronin. A Zubat descended for a Wing Attack but was knocked away by an attack from one of the daycare worker's Pokémon.

This repeated several times, any Pokémon that moved to interrupt the process swiftly being beaten back, until the light cleared away from Esprit, revealing her new form.

She was now a bit taller, her horns had relocated to the side of her head, and her 'helmet' had changed shape, now resembling a young girl's hair. Her arms and torso were covered in white fur, which spread out from the waist to look more like a skirt. Her legs were much longer and much thinner, now bright green in color. And with the changed shape of her helmet/hair, her red eyes were now visible for the world to see.

"Esprit...evolved," Louise gasped. She reached for her Pokédex but stopped herself. There would be time for that later. Right now, she had to focus on the battle at hand. The newly-evolved Kirlia let out a battle cry, a blue light gathering in her eyes and spraying out towards several of the gathered Skorupi and Zubat, sending them all flying back.

"That was Psychic!" Saito cheered.

" _Psychic won't work on a Dark-type,_ " one of the Houndour growled, preparing a Dark Pulse.

' _No,_ ' Esprit conceded. ' _But Dazzling Gleam will._ ' The Fire-type had just enough time to process that thought before he and all his comrades were blown back by a flash of white light.

"Grr...so what if one of their Pokémon evolved!" The Flare Grunt that was in charge of the siege growled out. "We still have the advantage of numbers!"

That they did. The defending Pokémon fought back with renewed spirit, easily knocking out multiple Zubat, Houndour, and Skorupi, but it seemed for every one they beat, two more took their place. And while the new ones were fighting, the Flare Remnants would pull out Max Revives and Full Restores and heal the beaten ones, just as they had been before. The process repeated, and even with the boosted morale brought by Esprit's timely evolution, the defenders were slowly, but surely, being defeated.

Aile, in particular was quickly being overwhelmed by a group of five Zubat. She slammed into one with Peck, only for an Air Cutter to make direct contact with her wing, sending her hurtling to the ground. The Zubat all closed in on her, mouths open as they prepared Leech Life attacks.

" _Shit!_ " Aile cursed, frantically trying to escape, but her wing was unresponsive.  
Suddenly, a stream of blue fire flew through the area, sending all of the Zubat flying - and not of their own volition.

A loud chirp was heard, as the flames dispersed and revealed a large, bird Pokémon with red and grey feathers. Aile recognized her as a Talonflame, the final evolution of her own species.

" _You did pretty good, chibi,_ " the Scorching Pokémon complimented, " _But we'll handle it from here._ "

"' _We?_ '" Aile repeated.

There was a flash of light, and a large, tortoise like Pokémon with orange scales and black shell landed in the battle with a thud, exhaling red-hot wind onto the Skorupi, knocking them all out instantly. Then, a black, canine Pokémon that looked like a much larger and much scarier Houndour leapt into the fray, causing many of the Dark Pokémon to shrink back instinctively. The newcomer let out a threatening Snarl, sending them all flying backwards, unconscious. Machamp's battle with the Lucario ended abruptly as said Lucario suddenly found himself covered in a ferocious Inferno, courtesy of the chandelier-like Pokémon that was now laughing mischievously behind him.

Up above, the Talonflame had just finished knocking out the last of the Zubat with her Brave Bird. The four newcomers then gathered together, the Scorching Pokémon landing on the outstretched arm of a trainer. Said trainer had pink hair, red sunglasses similar to the ones the Flare Remnants were wearing, a black top, and red pants. An aura of authority swirled around her, and all the Grunts took an instinctive step back.

"That's...!" Saito gasped, recognizing her immediately.

"It's you!" The lead grunt accused. "You traitor!"

"I suggest you all give up now," the trainer of the Fire-Types that had interrupted the battle advised coldly, ignoring the grunt. "There is no chance of escape."

As if on cue, several bright lights burst on all around them, revealing several police officers surrounding the location. The lead grunt growled, but threw his hands into the air, knowing he stood no chance against several dozen Police Officers backed by a member of the Elite Four. The other grunts with him followed suit.

It was then that Espirit finally allowed herself to let out the breath she had been holding. They had won.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest episode of Outsiders! Lots happened here, including our first Evolution! Our dear Espirit is now a Kirlia!

We also want to announce two new betas, Pangaea and Revamper D.M.G.. They were a tremendous help with this chapter, so I thank both of you.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **Hunter407** : Thank you for joining us, Hunter! Don't worry, its no problem at all with your English. While I haven't read any of Pokémon Special, we are incorporating other fighting styles where appropriate. But, others in our group have read the manga, so you'll see its influence here and there.

 **Drewd00d** : Hello and welcome to Fanfiction! I was a lurker for years before I finally made an account, so your in like company. Thank you for your in depth review. I always enjoy reading these, as it means that I've been doing a good job. Making Saito and Louise likable main characters was always a priority for us, especially in how they play off of each other. As much as I like FoZ canon, that show did not portray their relationship all that well. We all know why. So to hear that we've succeeded so far is a great sign. As for the battles, we wanted to showcase the humans more where appropriate. After all, if criminals are attacking, you aren't going to just sit back and let your Pokémon do all the work, are you? No, you'll fight back yourself, and the criminals will target you in turn. These aren't Jesse, James, and Meowth. I'm glad to hear that Maxwell's character is coming across well. He is certainly an effectively leader, a brutal one who doesn't tolerate rookie mistakes like leaving evidence but is willing to listen to subordinates and reward them thusly. As such, his men are very loyal to him, as are his Pokémon. As for how they healed, they anticipated making more money on this venture than they would have spent, so they bought their supplies. Stealing them would have only led the police to them, with laundered money of course.

That's it for this chapter! See you all next time! Before we go, here is an omake by NecroMechanoid. Special thanks for allowing me to post it here:

 **Any City in Kalos**  
 **Park**

Louise, Saito and Derf sat on a bench with an order of six manju buns in the middle with their respective drinks at the respective side. It's an interesting confection which Louise found more and more appealing with every bite.

Next to her, Saito comments about a battle they witness a couple of minutes ago. More specifically about a certain Pokemon the trainer had.

"I can't believe that guy had an actual kabutops." Saito said between bites of his snack. "Should've ask how he got it. I'd be the envy of lots of trainers if I had a Fossil Pokémon."

"But how?" Louise said with awe. "How can they bring back extinct species!? From fossils no less!? That collector who wanted Espirit also had an extinct Pokemon: Archen. This act can be considered necromancy back home but that's a crude comparison from what they've done here."

Derf interjected, "I have to say: I'm more than curious myself. Never in my six thousand years did I ever think of seeing something like that. How long has that been possible?"

Saito looked at the two stare at him for answers. Rummaging through his memories, he replied the best he could. "Well, Devon Corp has been working on the tech about fifteen years ago and announced their success like 7-8 years ago when they unveiled an Omanyte on TV. I still remember seeing that broadcast.

As for the how they did it? From what I can grasp, the genetic material of Pokemon can survive a lot better intact in fossils than any other creatures. Including humans. They extract the samples and they got the 'blueprints' to make a clone and bring it to the modern world."

"You make it sound easy." Derf said with some sarcasm.

"That's the dumb down, cliffnotes version for people of average intelligence like us." Saito quickly defended himself. "I'm not a scientist or expert in the field. More detailed descriptions will no doubt involve a lot of big and complicated words. A number of which I haven't heard since school biology class. I do remember one of my teachers asking the class which fossil Pokemon do we want. Majority of the class, myself included, said the same thing: Aerodactyl."

"Bu-But to bring creatures back from extinction." Louise stampers. "Isn't that like playing God? Did people not see the implications of such a thing!?"

Saito gave a short chuckle, "You sounds like those intense luddite groups. They're the ones who spoke against the tech. Citing that it was crimes against the nature and all that stuff. Debates and tempers flying everywhere."

Louise listen intently. From what she has seen now and what Saito said, those groups failed to get their message across. But she asked all the same. "So what ended up happening?"

"The debates lasted for a few months before becoming old news and people moved on to the next thing happening." Saito finished his manju before taking a sip of his drink.

The answer was not what Louise expected. "Just like that!" She screamed drawing the attention of others in the vicinity. After a minute passed and everyone returned to their business, Louise pressed on in a controlled manner. "Just like that? How can people just move on from something of such magnitude!?"

"Well, new things happen every day Louise." Saito said. "Big or small, people will always be drawn away from yester-news to more recent occurrences happening around the world. Just look up there for an example." He directed Louise's attention to a building with a giant tv monitor.

A news broadcast on display talking about a robbery at a museum where a number of Kalos artifacts were stolen.

"That's a live broadcast from Cerulean City. In the Kanto region." Saito paused to take another drink. "Let's me ask you something: in your home country, how long does it take for news to travel from the east end to the west end?"

Louise pondered the question for a few short seconds. "Well, usually, it would take a few weeks to reach that far. On foot that is. A day or two by messenger bird or flying mount." She became silent for a bit, looking at the remains of her manju before taking the final bite and swallow. "Guess it's pretty slow compared to here." Back home, news like this would lay festering in the minds of everyone for months or even years. Here, with their 24 hour news informing them of everything happening around the world, even something like bringing the dead back would fall out of people's mind after a while.

Saito took the last manju, tore it down the middle, and gave one to Louise. "There is one more factor in this."

"What is it?"

"Simply put: if a discovery or achievement doesn't affect people's lives in any bad way, then there really is no issue to be had at all." Saito shrugged his shoulders. "Really, that's what matters most."

—


	32. Season 1, Episode 7, Chapter 5

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 7, Chapter 5**

[~][~]

"Hurry up!"

"Go, man! Go!"

"It's gaining on us!"

The occupants of the van all yelled at the driver, who gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles having long since turned white. Occasionally, he would glance at his rear view mirror to see the snarling Arcanine snapping its fiery jaws towards the vehicle, as the Dragonite did the same to the other van beside him. His focus was on the road, however. The plan hinged on them getting away. That meant he had to shake the Arcanine.

"Hang on!" he yelled as he sharply swerved right, his tires briefly leaving the ground before righting themselves. The Arcanine continued to run after him, only for the driver to suddenly slam on the brakes. Unable to stop itself in time, Arcanine ran full speed into the back of the van, leaving a sizable dent in the back door. The Pokémon swayed back and forth as it tried to regain its bearings, all the while the van shifted back into gear and drove off, leaving dust trailing behind it.

By the time Arcanine stopped, the van was long gone.

* * *

The entire daycare facility was now swarming with people. Police officers with Manectrics combed each and every inch of the complex, trying to gather any and all evidence of Flare's thwarted theft. Above them were several helicopters, shining spotlights down on fleeing grunts, who were swiftly caught by their pursuers. News channels had begun to pile in as well, with reporters standing in front of cameramen as they reported just what had transpired. Nurses with portable healers were tending to the injured Pokémon.

None of that truly matter to Louise, however, as she sat inside an impromptu medical tent while Saito and Elizabeth lied on beds in a closed off section.

Of the two of them, Saito had emerged the better off. None of his bones were broken, which Louise thanked the Founder for profusely. He did, however, suffer a concussion and his body was heavily bruised and cut, some of which needed stitches. His arms were wrapped tightly in bandages and gauze, to the point where he almost looked like a mummy. She wasn't too worried about him, though.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, was a much different story. Her prognosis was bad, to put it lightly. Along with a severe concussion and a slightly fractured skull, Elizabeth had several of her ribbed cracked, her arms were broken in several places, and most worryingly, she had lost a lot of blood. For a while, it was touch and go. It was only thanks to Espirit's newfound strength that she had lasted long enough for help to arrive. Louise dreaded to think what would have happened had that not been the case.

"Ms. Valliere?" a doctor said, snapping Louise out of her thoughts.

"Yes, ma'am?" Louise said, giving the doctor her undivided attention. The doctored nodded to herself and began ruffling through papers on a clipboard.

"I wanted to give you a quick update on Mr. Hiraga and Ms. Colette," she said. "Saito is expected to make a full recovery. He's sleeping right now, but otherwise he's fine. We'll be taking him via ambulance to Camphrier General Hospital where he'll need to stay for a day or two at most. Just to make sure there aren't any complications for him."

"Thank the Founder." Louise sighed in relief before refocusing on the doctor. "What about Elizabeth?"

The doctor sighed and took off her glasses. "It's not good. She's lost a lot of blood. We're doing the best we can, but there's only so much we can do here. Camphrier General isn't equipped to handle her injuries, so we're airlifting her to the Lumiose Trauma Center."

Louise's face fell at the news, and she sighed mournfully. Truth be told, she regretted her earlier hostility to the woman. Elizabeth had risen to the occasion and helped to avert what would have been a catastrophe. There was no doubt in Louise's mind that, had they not been there, the entire daycare's store of Pokémon Eggs would have been stolen. The Daycare might have even been forced to shut down. That wasn't to say that Louise hadn't quite forgiven Elizabeth for trying to steal Brennaraki, she doubted that she ever would, but the noble at the very least could give credit where credit was due.

"However," the doctor suddenly spoke up, catching Louise's attention once more, "I did notice something about you two's medical records. According to them, sparse as they may be, you have an O negative blood type."

"…Okay?" Louise didn't quite understand where the woman was going with this, nor was she quite familiar with blood types. She remembered Professor Sycamore talking about them when they set them up before her departure to Santalune, but the concept flew over her head.

"So, you're a universal donor," the doctor revealed, and the pieces began to fit into place in Louise's mind. "We could do a whole blood transfusion and donate it to Elizabeth while she's in transit. It would greatly improve her chances, so…"

"I'll do it," Louise cut the doctor off firmly. The doctor smiled and waved her over.

"Thank you. You are making the right decision."

"Of course I am," Louise nodded, and the doctor smiled even more. The two walked over to a nearby table, where a boxy monitor with tubes coming out of its side sat. Louise sat down on a nearby chair while the doctor rolled up Louise's sleeve and, after feeling around for a vein, applied rubbing alcohol to the inside of her elbow.

"So, how exactly does this work?" Louise asked, suddenly getting nervous. She gulped once the doctor pulled out a needle, and her skin paled. "Oh, no…"

"Scared of needles?"

"Of course not!" Louise loudly protested, silently cursing Sycamore more making her submit to blood testing. Still, her pride refused to let her show fear, even as she was about to have a needle pierce her body's natural protective layer and pull out the vital lifeblood within her, blood that she very much needed to live and should not be outside of her body for any reason.

Louise paled even more as the doctor pressed the needle to her skin, and with a great deal of effort she forced herself to look away. A second later, she felt a pang of pain as the needle stabbed into the vein, and soon after, blood began to pump out and fill a nearby bag.

"You're doing a very brave thing, Louise," the doctor said as the machine continued to work.

"Don't mention it," Louise forced out, taking great pains to look anywhere than the slowly filling bag of blood lest she grow even more nauseous. She needed to distract herself, and so she began to talk. "I'm glad you guys got here when you did."

"Same here," the doctor agreed. "From what the police told us, they got the call about an hour ago and had to wait for Malva to arrive with her specialized unit before proceeding. That's the only reason why they were able to arrest as many as they did. Still, Flare being back… I won't lie and say it doesn't trouble me."

"Same. I wasn't here in Lumiose when they attacked, but from what I heard, it got bad." Louise nodded to herself and closed her eyes, only for them to shoot open when she realized just what the doctor said. "Hold on, you said the police got the call an hour ago?"

"Yes," the doctor confirmed. "Why? Is that a problem?"

"The siege started three hours ago. We didn't get the phones working until thirty minutes before Malva arrived. Charlotte told me that after things calmed down."

"So?"

"If Malva wasn't responding to our call, then whose call did she respond to?"

* * *

The van barreled down the dark forest road, the driver taking care to avoid any of the trees rushing past. Moonlight filtered down through thick leaves and thick clouds of dirt and grass shot into the air, kicked up by spinning tires. Headlights illuminated everything that came towards them, and the driver quickly avoided every rock and fallen tree that came into view with expert precision.

"I think we lost them," a Grunt declared, looking out the rear window with a smile on his face. True to his word, there was no sign of the pursuing Arcanine or Dragonite, and the occupants let out a victorious cheer. The driver, however, remained silent, even as they entered into a large clearing.

"Good job, man!" another Grunt slapped the driver's shoulder. "That driving back there was sick!"

The van jumped up slightly as they ran over a small rock, jostling the egg containers slightly.

"Hey, keep those secure!" a woman called out. "The bosses will have our hides if any of them get scrambled!"

"On it, ma'am," a Grunt complied as he and a few others began tightening the straps holding the containers down. After a few testing tugs, the Grunt flashed a thumbs up and the woman nodded back. She turned back to the driver, only to lurch as the van slammed to a halt.

"Whoa!" the occupants yelled out as they braced themselves against the van wall. A few were unable to keep their footing and fell to the ground, only to pick themselves up and glare at the driver.

"What the hell, man!" one called out angrily while the others simply glared. The driver, meanwhile, remained silent and merely put a pair of sunglasses on his face.

Suddenly, bright floodlights shone out from the darkness, revealing an entire squadron of uniformed officers, Manectrics by their side and completely surrounding them. The sound of rotating helicopter blades hovering over them could be clearly heard.

"We have you surrounded!" Officer Jenny yelled into her megaphone. "Come out with your hands up!"

"Arceus dammit!" a Grunt yelled as he grabbed a Pokéball. The other occupants began to do the same, bracing themselves against the door. The driver remained silent, removing his hands from the steering wheel.

"Get us out of here!" the woman yelled at the driver, who calmly looked at her from behind his sunglasses with a growing smirk on his face. It slowly dawned on her that something was off about the man, and suddenly her eyes widened in realization. "You son of a—"

"Electroweb," the driver ordered. The tiny Joltik hiding in the far corner of the van, unnoticed til now, immediately complied with its master's order and enveloped the criminals within the back of the van with electrified silk. Electricity coursed through the Flare Grunt's bodies, wracking their bodies with pain and collapsing many. A few attempted to fight through the pain, only for the driver to speak again.

"Thunder Wave." At the driver's command, the Joltik fired an electric field at the criminals. Paralyzed, the criminals could only fall helplessly to the ground, glaring hatefully at the traitorous driver. Silently, the driver unlocked his seatbelt and unlocked the van, his Joltik jumping onto his shoulder as he did. He stepped out, with Malva waiting for him.

"They're inside, paralyzed. Should last for a few hours," he said as he began taking off his Flare uniform, Joltik carefully maneuvering itself to the top of his head. Malva nodded back and threw her arm towards the back of the van, ordering a group of officers to open the back door and drag the criminals out. "We got half the eggs in there."

"And the other half?" Malva asked as another group of officers gingerly carried the egg canisters out of the van and into their own.

"With Maxwell, unfortunately. Bastard never trusted me completely." He looked at her as he threw his red coat into the van behind him, his red gloves following suit along with his red pants and tie. Without missing a beat, Malva handed him a black suit jacket with matching pants and tie.

"And he's long gone. Dammit." Malva clenched his fist then looked at the suited man in front of her. "Smith, what are we going to do now? He got dozens of eggs."

"The original plan would have resulted in hundreds getting stolen," Smith countered, "had I not been embedded from the very beginning and the outsiders hadn't interfered."

"And now we managed to nab most of his supporters and his lieutenants." Malva didn't allow herself to smile at that, although she desperately wanted to.

"He's going to have to start recruiting again," Smith observed and stepped fully into view, his sharp black suit a marked contrast to his previous disguise. "I'll contact my colleagues in INTERPOL, have agents start watching the other cells and monitoring them for activity." He began to walk away, his hands tucked into his pockets. Joltik took the opportunity to hop onto his shoulder.

"Where are you going?" she called after him while he simply waved back.

"Following up on a lead," he cryptically replied as he continued his trek back towards the Daycare center, his thoughts focused on two of the interlopers in particular.

* * *

Louise and Saito watched as Elizabeth laid in her bed, a tub going into her arm and filled with Louise's blood. A monitor beeped with Elizabeth's pulse while others displayed her body's temperature. Her body was covered bandages and casts, and her breathing was slow.

"She… doesn't look so good…" Saito whispered softly at the scene. He was laying in bed as well, with a few bandages and gauze wrapping his arms and torso. Every few breaths he would wince, but the pain was only minor.

"Yeah…" Louise replied as she watched Espirit continue to bathe Elizabeth with Heal Pulse. Her efforts had been instrumental in keeping Elizabeth alive thus far, but it was obvious she was tiring out quickly. Each pulse was taking longer and longer intervals, sweat was beginning to accumulate on her body, and her breathing was beginning to grow labored.

"Espirit, how about you take a break? The doctors are here now, they can handle her."

' _Not…yet…'_ Espirit replied, her voice audible to all. Louise smiled faintly at her Kirlia's voice. As it turned out, Espirit's evolution, beyond simply making her stronger, also increased her psychic abilities to the point where she could actually talk to the people around her. No longer would they have to rely on psychically-transmitted pictures to talk to one another. Now, they could just talk normally, or as normally as one could with one side being telepathic.

"Your trainer is right, young lady," the doctor called out as she and a few nurses entered the medical tent. They could hear the sound of helicopter blades spinning behind them, and at once Louise knew what was about to happen.

"Alright," she said as she got out of her seat. Reluctantly, Espirit followed after her and stopped her usage of Heal Pulse. She was breathing heavily, and so Louise carefully picked her up and held the Pokémon to her shoulder. Espirit's breathing softened, and soon she fell asleep. Louise smiled and rubbed her back before pulling out her Luxury Ball and returning her. Behind her, the sound of squeaking wheels filled the tent as another nurse wheeled Saito to the ambulance waiting outside. Louise moved to follow him in, only for a cough to catch her attention. She turned around, and to her surprise saw a pale Elizabeth slowly tossing her head back in forth, obviously in a great deal of pain.

"Whe…where am I?" she said, her voice so quiet Louise almost didn't hear her.

"Hey, everything's fine. Your safe," Louise soothed the injured heiress. She didn't dare touch her, worried about the state of her injuries.

"Di…did we…"

"Yes, we won." Louise didn't dare reveal that a dozen eggs got stolen, not in her present condition. Elizabeth smiled faintly at that, only to groan in pain. Tears were beginning to form in the corners of her eyes, and a pang of guilt stabbed through Louise's heart.

"Good…good…" With those final words, Elizabeth fell back into a deep sleep. Doctors and nurses then ushered her out and Louise complied. A few moments later, she watched as Elizabeth was wheeled to the waiting helicopter, which took off and headed west towards Lumiose as soon as she was safely aboard. With a sigh, Louise turned and walked into the waiting ambulance. The doors were shut behind her and they softly drove off down the road to .

* * *

"Well…that was a mess," Derflinger spoke to the assembled People and Pokémon in the waiting room at Camphrier General. Saito and Louise were currently inside his room, the girl fretting over his condition despite his very loud protests. It was almost comical.

" _I'll say,_ " Tanuki replied, his voice serious and his arm in a sling. His free paw tightened into a fist and his growled. " _When I get my hands on that Lucario…"_

' _You'll what, exactly?_ ' Maindo said. ' _They went through us like wet paper, Tanuki. We can't do anything to them just yet. Going after them is just suicide._ '

" _So we should just let them get away with putting our trainer in the hospital?_ " Tanuki glared at the indifferent Ralts, who merely shook his head and shrugged.

' _Just stating the obvious._ ' Maindo's tone, normally sharp and biting, was much more subdued now. They all knew it was from whatever Gallade did to him, and although he refused to speak about it, they all knew it affected him deeply. Seeing him like this, they almost missed his normal barrage of insults. Almost.

" _Nothing good came out of that experience,_ " Ronin declared as he hung his head, guilt over failing to protect his trainer filling him. He then looked to a tired Espirit and softly smiled. " _Well, not everything._ "

" _That's right. Espirit evolved into a Kirlia. Before me,_ " Brennaraki grumbled that last part but no one minded. " _You know, I have to ask. What's it like?_ "

' _What's what like?_ ' Espirit asked, slightly confused. They noticed how much clearer her voice was. While they could always understand her, now it was like she upgraded from an old radio with faulty wiring to a cell phone.

" _Evolving,_ " Brennaraki clarified. " _What did it feel like? What triggered it? I feel like I'm close but… I just can't reach it._ "

Espirit hummed to herself as she thought over the experience. It was so sudden, the environment so chaotic that she hadn't really thought about it before now.

' _Was was…strange, to be honest,_ ' Espirit began to explain. ' _One moment, I was just fighting, doing everything I could to keep Flare from succeeding, hearing the terrified voices of the babies and the…anger of everyone else. Then,_ ' she pointed to her chest, _'I just felt this…power erupt inside me. It was like nothing I've ever experience before. It was euphoric, it felt liberating, and strangely warm. Everything turned white and my body just…changed. When I could see again, I was…this._ ' She pointed to her entire body in emphasis and everyone smiled.

" _Hope I evolve soon. Turn into a Braixen. Can't wait for it,_ " Brennaraki sighed with the others murmuring in agreement.

" _What about you, Derf?_ " Aile asked, directing the ancient Honedge's attention. " _You've been in Kalos for the past six thousand years. You looking to evolve?_ "

"Nah, never felt the need to," he explained with a small movement of his hilt, imitating a shrug. "I'm fine being a Honedge. It's…familiar." His answer surprised the Pokémon, but before they could question him, they heard a knock at the door. They turned their attention towards the sound, and after a moment an irritated Louise stomped out of Saito's room.

"How many times to I have to get that Smith guy to leave us alone?" Louise grumbled as she walked to the door. The others all sighed at that, knowing the incessant attempts of the strangely familiar INTERPOL agent trying to debrief her and Saito. It was only due to the hospital administrators and Louise's stubbornness that he finally relented, accepting a written statement by Louise that she finished writing up an hour ago. The fact that it was in Ancient Kalosian was an act of pure spite, as the language she had to write it in was not specified.

Louise stopped at the door and grumbled to herself before another knock was heard, followed by a feminine voice. Louise's eyes widened as she recognized it and quickly opened the door, revealing Joyce standing in the entryway, holding two Egg Containers in her arms.

"Oh, Joyce? What brings you here? And what's with the eggs?" Louise said in surprise.

"I wanted to thank you two personally for your help yesterday. May I?" she asked, and Louise nodded and shifted her body to the side, her arm outstretched in an open invitation. Nodding back, Joyce stepped into the waiting room and looked around. She smiled at the assembled Pokémon, who waved back, Maindo's halfheartedly.

"Where's Saito?" Joyce sounded worried there, and Louise waved her hand around to dismiss it.

"He's fine, don't worry. Just refusing to change out his bandages."

"They've already been changed out today!" Saito's muffled voice was heard through the walls.

"It won't hurt to change them again!" Louise shouted back.

"It's unnecessary!" His reply was instantaneous, and Joyce couldn't help but chuckle.

"Uhgh, boys," Louise grumbled with a smile. Her eyes then shot to the egg then back up to Joyce. "You didn't tell me what the Eggs were for."

"Well… This would be better to say to the both of you, if you don't mind." Louise looked surprised at this then, after a moment, nodded and opened the door, revealing Saito lying down on a hospital bed. A Kantoan anime was currently on the TV, something martial arts related and involving magical balls with stars on them, but his attention was currently on the daycare worker in front of him.

"Hey, Joyce. How's the Daycare?" he asked, his eyes briefly shooting to the eggs in her hands. Joyce's smile turned plain at the question and she sighed.

"We're still cleaning up the mess. Right now, estimates are above a million Pokédollars, what with the repairs, medical treatment, replacing of damaged equipment, not to mention increased security. This will _never_ happen again." Her eye's turned hard at that declaration, and Louise and Saito nodded.

"Any word on Elizabeth?" Saito asked, and Joyce nodded.

"She's recovering, based off what I know. Her parents are pissed, though. Not at us, of course, but at the whole situation. That being said, they're paying for both the repairs and upgrades, not to mention the medical treatment."

"So that's who paid the bill," Louise realized and snapped her fingers. She had tried to use her savings to pay for Saito's medical bill, as small as it was, only to find that it had already been paid. "That was nice of them."

"Remind me to send them a thank you card," Saito joked, causing Louise to shake her head. He then stared at the Egg more pointedly and then back at Joyce. "So, to address the Mamoswine in the room, what's with the Eggs?"

Joyce smiled at his question and nodded. "The others and I, we all got together and talked about the events from earlier. Had it not been for you two and Elizabeth, things would have been an absolute disaster. Every single egg would have been taken, and who knows how many Pokémon would have been kidnapped. You guys saved the daycare, and we felt that a simple thank you wasn't enough."

She held out an Egg proudly, a bright and wide smile on her face. "So, as a humble expression of our eternal gratitude, the Kalos River Daycare Center gifts you two with your own Pokémon Egg."

Saito and Louise stared in shock, their eyes wide and their mouths agape. Carefully, Louise took the Egg from the worker's hand and stared back, the other safely held in Joyce's arms. The egg in Louise's arms was a steel grey color, with three red bands forming around the center.

"I… I don't… We can't accept this… I can't accept this…" Louise stammered, and Joyce shook her head.

"Of course you two can." Joyce continued to smile. "Jason's on his way to Lumiose to give Elizabeth her own Egg, and we wanted to give you two one as well."

"You're…giving us all one?" Saito numbly asked, and Joyce nodded.

"Yes. You all have more than earned it. Please, take them." Joyce held out the other Egg, this one a mixture of white and light blue. Louise remained quiet and stared at the egg in her arms, going over everything that had transpired. Her eyes sparkled with wonder and longing, and she wanted nothing more than to accept Joyce's offer and take both.

"I, uh… Thank you," Saito said as Louise numbly handed the grey and red egg to him. He looked upon it in wonder, curious as to what was inside, while Louise stared at the other egg. Her heart was beating rapidly, her thoughts filled with curiosity and longing. She wanted nothing more than to accept the other egg and accept whatever hatched out into her growing family.

"I can't," Louise finally got out, her voice final. Joyce looked confused as Louise stepped away. "I'm sorry, but I don't deserve this."

"What do you mean? You helped save the facility." Joyce was confused while Saito looked on knowingly. From behind the worker, Derflinger nodded approvingly, knowing exactly what was going into the rosecrown's decision.

"All I did was follow what my mother and father taught me," Louise explained. "I simply performed what is expected of me and yet, my actions don't compare to what Saito and Elizabeth went through. Besides..." she looked at Espirit, "...I already got my reward out of all that, I believe."

Joyce looked confused for a minute then smiled faintly then nodded. "I think I understand. Well, guess I just take this guy back then." She hefted the egg in her arms and smiled. "I know he or she will make it to a good home one day. You sure you don't want it?"

"Positive," Louise answered with a smile. Joyce nodded back then began turn around.

"I best be getting back to the daycare. I got a _lot_ of paperwork to fill out in the next couple of days." Joyce sighed in resignation then straightened herself. "Feel free to stop by whenever you guys want. You are always welcome in our doors."

"Thank you," Louise said as she escorted the worker out. "Give the others my regards."

"I will. Good luck in the Pokémon League. We're rooting for ya." At Joyce's declaration, Louise smiled, waved, and watched as Joyce walked away. Once she was out of sight, Louise gently closed the door and turned back to Saito, who was still staring at his egg intensely.

"Mind if we come in?" Derflinger asked from the entrance to Saito's room. The two trainers nodded, and at once the Pokémon filed into the smaller room. Saito's Pokémon hopped onto the bed alongside him, while Louise's Pokémon were content to get onto the various chairs, desks, and her shoulder.

The Pokémon stared at the Egg with wonder. Espirit could feel the developing Pokémon inside, and the soothing messages she sent it made it feel warm and happy. That with them, it was safe. Tanuki bounced in place, thinking over in his mind what his new teammate would be, Ronin strategized on how to ensure it wouldn't be corrupted while Maindo plotted ways on how to do just that.

A few hours went by, marked by the two trainers alternating between studying and theorizing about the egg and watching the anime still playing on the TV. Everything was peaceful, and Louise couldn't help but smile, only to suddenly feel a weight on her shoulder. She looked, seeing that Saito had fallen asleep, and she couldn't help but smile at the sight. She rubbed his head and took the egg from his hands, placing it on the table beside them. Gently, she lowered his head onto the pillow and quietly removed herself from the room, turning off the lights and closing the door behind her.

Lying down on the couch in the waiting room, Louise felt her Pokémon cuddle up alongside her and she smiled. She then closed her eyes, and it wasn't long before she drifted off into a deep sleep.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the next chapter of Outsiders! A much calmer chapter than last time, but one that is no less important. Lots of important things happened here, such as Saito getting a Pokémon Egg in reward for his defense of the Daycare, along with Elizabeth while Louise refused. Now, while they fully recover from their ordeal, they will be off on the next leg of their journey.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **Drewd00d** : This is a great review! Thank you for it. These reviews are my personal favorite to see. Let me answer all of your questions.

I'm actually the one who came up with Louise's line back there. I'm particularly proud of that one, if I do say so myself. Glad you liked it. And yes, she may have overplayed her hand a bit, but she was in a dangerous situation that warranted it.

This was a very important arc for Elizabeth as well. She is the most important human OC in the entire story, and this chapter will be very important for her arc. We're happy to see the interest in her backstory and where things will go.

Yes, it was an endurance battle on all sides. We wanted to keep the PoV on the good guys' teams for this chapter, which is why we didn't showcase the Flare mon's PoV. But, if you want, imagine that all of the Flare mon's were a combination of mentally exhausted and pumped full of adrenaline that would later make them crash.

You can thank NecroMechanoid from the Spacebattles thread for the omake, actually. While it isn't canon to the story, it is something that we all loved and want to explore in this story as well. Not just on fossils but in general.

 **Zander2212** : The Genie's introduction was one of my inspirations for that scene, actually.

 **DPSS** : Don't worry. Saito will have more to do in upcoming chapters. This chapter was mostly on further setting up Louise's and Elizabeth's character development. Also, keep in mind that it was Derflinger who was doing 90% of the work during that fight, and even then Elizabeth got her ass kicked. She will _not_ be doing that again.

 **revan4221** : Standard Void spells actually don't affect Arceus all that much. All she's doing is simply splitting one or two atoms, nothing more. She's not tearing holes in reality here, like with her summoning spell.

That does it for this week's chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it! Now, before we go, NechoMechanoid has yet another omake that I would like to share. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I have!

 **Pokéball Store  
**  
"I just want to provide the best for my Pokémon!" Louise argued. Currently, they were at the store where Saito thought it was a good opportunity to educate Louise on not only the basics of different Pokéballs but also on their, mainly Louise, expenditures.

"And I understand that. That's what any self-respecting trainer wants for their Pokémon." Saito agreed with her sentiment, but it was clear in his teacher-like tone that he had a rebuttal coming. "But the reality is that neither of us can afford to splurge like that. Especially since we don't have a large and steady income being deposited into our accounts." He expressly pointed out that fact.

"All I have is the money I've been saving for the start of my journey. Plus my monthly allowance my parents put into my account. And all you have is that apology money from Elizabeth's parents, which you've already spend most of it on every fancy and expensive item you could get your hands on..."

"You're never gonna let me forget that, are you?" Louise interjected with a sour pout.

"Nope!" He gave a quick answer before proceeding. "And there is whatever we earn along our travels."

"Like that nugget you found in the cave." Louise said. In their venture through the cave, Saito found a gold nugget no bigger than a compacted Pokéball. When he sold it at the jewelers shop, he received a decently large amount of money for it. Something which surprised Louise since, in Tristan, she doubted that little bit of gold would be worth anywhere close to what even untitled nobles make.

Saito nodded before continuing. "This means that we NEED to be practical and conserve our money in case of any emergencies that are likely to occur along the road." He starts to number sceneries with his fingers. "For example: what if our supplies and gear get lost or destroyed. We'd have to buy replacements. What if we come in need of professional medical attention. We'd have to pay the bill. What if, and this is actually quite common an occurrence to trainers like us, we cause unintentional property damage. We still have to pay for those damages. And that's just covering the basics."

Louise eyes widen as he listed off those sceneries and could almost feel her money getting blown away like a leaf in the wind. It never occurred to her just how bad it could get. In hindsight, it should've been obvious. If she is not careful, she could wind up broke before ever getting close to the Pokémon League.

Saito took note of Louise's clear look of shock realization and gave a knowing smirk. "And now comes the reason why we are here." He turned his gaze to the side for a second. "Well, part of the reason. But this is more important." He pointed to Louise's belt, specifically the orbs clipped on it.

"Luxury Balls. Designed for comfort which helps in making Pokémon more relaxed and friendlier." He explained. "However, while helpful, that's not why they're so expensive. The outer casing is made of fancy metals and expensive materials all meant to look eye-catching. In other words, it's just not worth the price tag."

Saito turn to grab two Pokéballs of a different kind that were next to the typical red/white. One is blue with two red accents on the top with the basic white bottom. The other ball has a black top with a yellow stripe that looks like the letter H and a white bottom.

"Great Ball and Ultra Ball. They have a 1.5 and double the catch rate of the stock model Pokéball respectively. I've heard stories of trainers using these to catch good Pokémon without needing to weaken them using these. The Ultra Ball especially. And both are cheaper then Luxury Balls."

Louise looked at their respective price tag and at the Luxury Balls'. The difference was obvious. Especially compared to the Great Ball. And for the higher chance of a successful catch, that does sound far worth it.

Placing the two orbs back, Saito grabbed another one. "Now we have the more specialized Pokéballs. Since we just finish venturing through a cave, this feels appropriate to start with." The Pokéball in question was black all around with green spots on all sides. The band and button around the center are colored orange. "This is called a Dusk Ball and it's made to work best during the night or in dark areas like inside a cave. Perfect for those looking for cave dwelling and nocturnal Pokémon."

Louise wants to know how that is, but she thought against it for now as she is enraptured by all this.

Saito moves on. "Here we got a Net Ball." This one retains the white bottom, but the top is a nice shade of light blue with black band across it like that of a net. "This here is great for catching bug and water type Pokémon, so they are popular with bug catchers and fisherman alike. Guess they wanted to take out two birds with one stone with this."

The next Pokéball seem to bring a smile to Saito as he looks at it with a fondness. It has a green top with yellow/brown bands that make a circle around it. "This one is nostalgic. It's called a Nest Ball and it's a simple and cheap Pokéball meant to catch weaker Pokémon. Great for kids who want to practice for their eventual journey while under parents supervision. My parents actually got me one for my tenth birthday since they wouldn't let me start then. Caught a Caterpie with it."

"What happened to it?" Louise broke her silence, wanting to know more on the subject.

"I raised it. It evolved all the way to a Butterfree. And when the mating season started, I let him go so he could start his own family." He smiled as he said that, and his eyes became glossier as water began building up. He then dried his eyes with his sleeve. "That was three years ago and doesn't really matter now. Let's move on."

Louise nodded with a small smile on her face as Saito grabbed the next ball. _'It feels like I'm back in class again.'_ A stray thought entered her mind, but she didn't mind it at all.

"...Here we have the Quick Ball" Saito presented a blue Pokéball with yellow strips pattern in a manner as to illustrate lightning. "This Pokéball personifies the phrase 'catch-n-go' as its made to catch a Pokémon best when its unaware of you. Throw it before your presence is known and you got a high chance of catching it. But if its guard is up, then it's no different than the stock model. Perfect for those Pokémon that prefer to run than fight. A lot of people looking for Legendary types tend to pack these."

Louise could see how such a thing could be very useful. Especially when dealing with more dangerous Pokémon.

"Going from the Quick Ball, we come to its opposite." The next Pokéball Saito displayed possesses a mostly white color with a black top and red strips on its side with a red crest on the top front. It almost looks like those cooking timers she's seen in Professor Sycamore's kitchen. "The catch rate on the Timer Ball actually increases the longer the battle with the wild Pokémon last. The crest here is a sensor that picks up on the fight between the two Pokémon and charges up the Pokéball. The longer the battle, the greater the chance of the catch."

Louise blinked twice as she slowly comprehended the point of such a thing. It made a sort of sense that if you have a Pokéball for a quick catch that you have one for prolong battles. Cover every scenario. Something her mother always talked about.

"Now this one here is favored by farmers and people looking to start their own small business." The next Pokéball looked very much like the common models expect there was a gold chain design on the top that starts at the top and goes to the back of the ball. "This is a Repeat Ball. It syncs up with any Pokémon registry device, a Pokédex in our case, and increases the chance of catching a Pokémon you already have. Great for farmers and ranchers who run a Miltank Dairy Farm or a Combee Honey Keep."

Having tried Miltank milk and Combee honey, it was not hard for Louise to see how such a Pokéball would be great for anyone desiring to enter such a profession. _'Now I want more Combee honey.'  
_  
"Last one here is made specifically for water-type Pokémon. Specifically for catching them underwater." The last Pokéball has a nice coloring of gentle blue shades with a white pattern on the top that all together gives it an ocean look about it. "The Dive Ball is made for catching Pokémon that live under the ocean. It's got a reinforced casing to better handle sea pressure, but it also has small water thrusters to propel it when thrown since if you use any other Pokéball, the water will stop it the moment it leaves your hand. Great if you are ever planning to give deep sea diving a try. You would not believe how many cool Pokémon live on the ocean floor."

Louise blinked once and then twice as she saw all the different Pokéballs in the room. So many for an equally many form of situation. And a good number of them are cheaper than the luxury balls she bought at Lumiose City. _'Damn that woman!'  
_  
Saito didn't seem to notice the scowl on Louise face as he proceeded to grab his purchase. Two Great Balls, a Dusk Ball and a Net Ball. "Well, that's all the Pokéballs in the shop. There are others like the Heal Ball, which is actually sold in the Pokémon Center. And there are those given in special and public events. But there are models that are exclusive to certain regions, like in Johto. Wish I could've gotten one when I lived there."

"What about that one?" Louise pointed to a poster displaying a Pokéball with a purple top and two brighter purple circles on its side with the letter "M" printed on top of its face.

"That, Louise...," the tone in Saito's voice made it evident just how big a deal that certain Pokéball is, "...is called the Master Ball. A well-deserved name too. The Master Ball is a guaranteed catch on any wild Pokémon anyone can encounter."

"Guaranteed?" Louise asked just to be sure.

"One hundred percent guaranteed catch." Saito assured. "Doesn't matter the physical state of the Pokémon. You throw that and its caught, period."

Louise could not help but gasp at the picture of the Master Ball. "That things must be incredibly expensive!"

"That's like saying a Golem has gotta be rock-hard." Saito said completely serious. "The Silph Corporation, who made the Master Ball, had hopes of introducing them on the market but after an incident with the criminal organization, Team Rocket, as well as the intervention of the Pokémon Association and League, they stopped any plans from ever bringing them to the wilder public. Any form of production and distribution is tightly regulated and highly scrutinized. Rumors pop up of the Association granting one to certain individuals, but no one really knows. Especially with how the identity of those lucky few are kept well away from any media."

Louise understood the reasoning behind such action. If such a device became available to great quantities for all, especially to those of ill-repute...she couldn't imagine the chaos that would cause.

"Well, I got what I wanted." Saito said holding up the four Pokéballs and the proof of purchase. "Anything you're looking to get before leaving?"

Louise looked around at the selection before taking one Great Ball and a Dusk Ball. "I'll just take these two."

[~][~]

Once again, these omakes are not canon, but I just wanted to share them with you all. See you next time on Outsiders!

Also, in case any of you are interested, I have started a RWBY/DC crossover with Jessesanman and NaanContributor called Hunters of Justice. If you like either of those franchises, I encourage you to check it out!


	33. Season 1, Episode 8, Chapter 1

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 8, Chapter 1**

[~][~]

Louise woke up to a steady beeping sound. Light shone through the window blinds, thankfully avoiding her eyes and preventing her from being blinded. With a yawn, she sat up and stretched, feeling her joints pop and a wave of relief wash over her.

"Aaah…" she sighed in relief and smacked her lips. Her eyes still droopy, Louise stepped off her couch and walked to the restroom, scratching her back as she went and only stopping to grab her bag.

"Morning, Louise," Derflinger called out from the corner of the room. Louise halfheartedly grunted in response as she closed the restroom behind her. Soon after, the muffled sound of running water could be heard emanating from the restroom, along with the sound of classical music.

"Hmm, nice taste," he noted as Saito's door creaked open. The boy stepped out while rubbing his eyes, bandages still wrapped around his arms.

"Morning, Derf," Saito greeted through a yawn.

"Morning, Saito." Derflinger nodded. "Surprised you're up so early without Pinky kicking you awake."

"Blame Louise. New habits die hard apparently." Saito shrugged then yawned. Behind him, still perched on the bedside table, Derflinger could see the steel-grey and red egg inside its container along with the other Pokémon resting either on the bed or, in Maindo's case, on a nearby chair. Groggy, Saito shuffled to his bag and hefted it to his shoulder before suddenly dropping it, wincing at the sudden pain.

"What was that?!" Louise shouted through the door, the water halting immediately.

"Nothing!" Saito insisted as he rubbed his sore shoulder.

"That did not sound like nothing!" Louise replied as the music shut off, followed by wet footsteps splashing against the tile floor. Saito groaned as a wet Louise, hastily wearing her red and pink spotted pajamas, stomped out of the restroom over to him.

"Louise…" Saito whined as Louise moved closer, stopping only a few feet away.

"Sit," she ordered, accompanied with a commanding stare and finger pointed down. With a sigh, Saito complied and allowed the rosette to inspect him. Gingerly, she touched his shoulder, only to sharply pull back when Saito hissed as sharp pain shot through his body.

"You're hurt," she noted, a regretful tone to her voice while Saito merely shook his head.

"It's just a bruise. I'm fine, really," he insisted, faintly smiling. "There's no need to make a big deal out of it."

"Yes, there is," Louise shot back before turning to the bed, where her Pokémon still slept. "Espirit, wake up please."

At once, Espirit's eyes shot open as she sat upright. She blinked a few times, rubbing her eyes and yawning, then stared expectantly at Louise and Saito.

' _Yes, Louise?_ ' Espirit asked, causing Louise to faintly smile. She still couldn't get over how nice it was to finally understand her Pokémon, even if the first time it happened was admittedly startling.

"Please use Heal Pulse on Saito's shoulder."

' _Alright._ ' Espirit hopped off the couch and walked over to the annoyed boy, who turned his head to glare at the rosette. Rather than get annoyed, she merely rolled her eyes.

"Oh, quit being such a baby," she said as a warm light filled the room. Saito sighed in relief as the Heal Pulse worked its magic.

"I'm not being a baby," Saito muttered, but Louise didn't respond. Instead, she merely continued to stare at the bruises covering Saito's body, shame and regret creeping into her.

"Louise?"

"What?" Louise shot back at the mention of her name. Saito and Espirit were now staring at her in slight concern, while an embarrassed blush crossed the noble's face. After a moment, an understanding look crossed Saito's face.

"Louise, what happened at the Daycare wasn't your fault."

"I know that!" Louise insisted while Saito shook his head.

"Let me clarify: what happened to me and Elizabeth was not your fault." Louise moved to retort, but the words caught in her throat and she looked down. Seeing this, Saito sighed and put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"Louise, you know you can talk to me, right?" Saito asked, his voice soft and comforting. After a moment of contemplation, Louise sighed and sat down next to the boy.

"It's just…" Louise paused and swallowed a lump in her throat. "We were only there because of me. Don't get me wrong, I am proud of what we did, stopping Team Flare in their tracks. But…"

Louise sighed. "You got hurt, Elizabeth even worse. Both of you were only there because I wanted to be there."

"To be fair, Elizabeth was trying to find you purposefully," Saito pointed out, trying to calm his friend's nerves.

"That's not the point!" Louise suddenly shouted, sending Saito aback. "You got hurt because of me! If we weren't there, then we wouldn't be in here, waiting in a hospital room for a doctor to give us the all clear! Elizabeth would have simply been beaten in a Pokémon Battle, not by a psychotic Gallade and sent to the hospital had I chosen to continue down Riviere Walk! It's my fault you-!"

"Louise," Saito cut into Louise's ranting. "Before you start blaming yourself, let me ask you this. Were you the one who beat up Elizabeth?"

The girl looked confused. "No, of course not."

"Were you the one who took me hostage?"

"No."

"Were you the one who tried to steal the eggs?"

"No!" She was started to grow irritated, and it showed. "What is the point of-?"

"The point is, Louise," Saito cut in again, this time much more insistently, "you did _none_ those things. Were we there because you wanted to? Yes, but you had no idea something bad was going to happen when you made that decision. Even when the Absol was spotted, there was no reason to believe the disaster was going to be a terrorist cell attacking the place.

"Besides, you're forgetting that we _chose_ to stay with you, despite knowing there was a possibility of something bad happening," Saito noted. "Both of us had hours to simply walk away, whether it was due to actual belief or otherwise, but we didn't. Deep down, we both knew the risks of staying, but we stayed anyway. So please, stop taking responsibility for other's actions. You can only control you, not what other people do." Saito smiled as he finished speaking, and after a moment, Louise did the same.

"Thank you, Saito," Louise said, and Saito nodded.

"No problem, Louise." The two teenagers smiled at each other in silence, each comfortable in not saying anything.

"Oh, just kiss already!" Derflinger suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence and directing everyone's attention to him. "What? Everyone's thinking it."

The others all stared at the Honedge in silence while Saito and Louise started to turn a shade of red. Saito merely looked embarrassed, but judging by the twitch in Louise's eye, she was looking for something to throw at him.

"Ah, come on girl, you need to loosen up a little! You know the best way to do that? Having a nice—" Derflinger was cut off when Louise finally decided on an object and threw a couch cushion at him. It impacted with a muffled ' _thump_ ' and a low growl echoed from the now boiling rosette.

' _Derf, now might be a good time to excuse yourself,_ ' Espirit dryly remarked, causing Derflinger to chuckle as he peeled the cushion off his face.

"No respect for your elders nowadays." Derflinger gave an over-dramatic sigh and slowly floated away. "Fine, fine. I'm going grab to some grub. I wonder if they still serve hardtack or that awful salted jerky…"

Louise and Saito stared at the departing form of Derflinger for several moments as he used his sash to open the door and gently close it behind him. The two continued to stare at the door, before a faint chuckle escaped Saito's lips.

"You know, sometimes I forget he's six-thousand years old," he noted while Louise merely rolled her eyes.

"A filthy minded six-thousand year old sword." She then stood back up and walked back to the restroom. "I'm going to finish my shower now. Make sure you replace those bandages after yours."

"Yes, mom," Saito joked with a smile, "just as you make sure not to use up all the hot water."

"That only happened one time!"

* * *

It was during Saito's shower that Derflinger finally returned with the food he promised to find, grumbling about finding something _worse_ than hardtack. The smell of the food was, however, enough to rouse Aile from her slumber, and the others soon followed lest she be allowed to gorge herself on everyone's offerings.

"How can you guys stand this stuff?" Derflinger asked as he gave the small pellets a suspicious look, rolling one of them around on his sash.

Tanuki shrugged. " _Eh, it's not that bad. Sure, berries are better, but you get used to it._ "

" _They have a nice texture to them, in my opinion,_ " Aile pointed out. " _Plus, its free food that I don't have to go out and find, so I ain't complaining."_

' _Of course the one thing on your mind is easy food,_ ' Maindo dryly said as he nibbled on a pellet.

" _And your point is?_ " Aile asked, to which Maindo merely grumbled. The others faintly chuckled at the Ralt's antics before Espirit walked back to their room's table, the egg hovering beside her.

' _So, first things first. The egg is still fine-'_

' _Haven't you been checking on that thing practically every hour since we got it?_ ' Maindo asked. Espirit glared at him, to which he merely shrugged. ' _Just saying, it's not going to break if you stop looking at it for a few hours and you're just running yourself ragged.'_ A retort bubbled up in Espirit's mind, but she stopped herself, knowing that parents were a sore subject for the Ralts. Biting her tongue, she continued.

' _Anyway, the egg is fine and so far, I can't determine any developmental problems. The baby still can't grasp the world beyond its egg, and it is nowhere close to hatching. If I had to guess, its only a few days old.'_

" _Any idea what it is?_ " Ronin asked as he dampened his scalchop to wipe away some crumbs from the corner of his mouth.

Espirit shook her head. ' _No, unfortunately. The sex won't be determined until later on, anyway, and even if I could, I'm not strong enough. If either me or Maindo were Gardevoirs, maybe, but until then, that isn't happening. We won't find out until it hatches.'_

" _Can't you guys, like, simply combine your minds together or something?_ " Brennaraki asked, her mouth full of pellets that made her cheek puff out.

' _It doesn't work like that,_ ' Maindo clarified. ' _Were I to even try, which I won't because frankly I don't really care to look into it, the power wouldn't be enough to figure out anything. It would be turning a pitch-black room into a slightly lighter shade of black, making it pointless to try.'_

"Well, aren't you a buzzkill," Derflinger snorted as he flicked the food pellet off to the side. "Still, can't help but wonder what it'll be. Pokémon Eggs were always fascinating to me, but never really quite got the hang of telling what would hatch out of one."

" _Yeah, I remember when I first hatched._ " Brennaraki sighed contently. " _At first, it was terrifying, but then I grew excited about it. A whole new world for me to see, to expand my horizons. I was the first one out of my entire batch, although I was the smallest one out of all of them."_

' _Aren't runts usually the last out?_ ' Maindo asked, no hint of malice in his voice but merely curiosity.

" _Try telling me that._ " Brennaraki smiled. Then, the shower shut off and they could hear the sound of Saito stepping out.

"Louise?" he called out from behind the door. "Where's the towels?"

"They're on the shelf above the toilet!" Louise shouted back over the sounds of the tv.

"Thank you." More sounds could be heard as Saito continued to ready himself. A few minutes later, he stepped out of the restroom, fresh bandages wrapped around his arm and his hair still slightly wet. He walked over to Louise and sat down on a chair next to hers. "What cha' watching?"

"Documentary on the moon landing," Louise revealed as the screen showed footage of a rocket taking off. "It's been fascinating. My people only recently discovered the planets, while here you've actually landed on them."

"Yeah, the moon landings are pretty cool," Saito admitted. By now, all of the Pokémon were watching the screen in silent interest. The peace lasted for several minutes, until a knock at the door brought all of their attention.

"Saito," a feminine voice sounded from behind the door. Espirit's eyes glowed and the door handle turned, opening the door and allowing a dark-skinned doctor to reveal herself.

"Doctor," Saito greeted, and the woman smiled back.

"If you will come with me, please, and we can do the final checkup." She moved the side of the door and extended her arm outward in invitation. Nodding and returning his Pokémon, Saito stood up and walked out, leaving Louise behind.

"You going to go after him?" Derflinger asked with a raised eyelid, but Louise shook her head.

"As much as I want to, I can't. Last thing they need is me getting in the way." She then turned off the tv and pulled out her Pokédex, activating the map function. "Besides, I have to plan out the rest of the trip to Cyllage."

"I imagine without distractions this time?" Louise didn't deign to acknowledge Derflinger with a response as she began mapping out the route in question. More specifically, she was focused on the what lay at the end of Riviere Walk, Connecting Cave.

The guide said it was hallowed out over the centuries by Rock and Ground-types, and now was a common thoroughfare for traveling trainers. The cave itself was filled with a wide array of Pokémon that filled the miles of underground passageways, which made it mildly dangerous to traverse, albeit no more dangerous than most forests. It was, however, the fastest route to Cyllage, which is why she and Saito decided on it in the first place. Admittedly, she was nervous, as she'd never been cave-diving before. The more primitive part of her brain told her that scary things lurked in the dark, things that she didn't want to have to come across under any circumstances.

That fear was quickly squashed by the rest of her. She reminded herself that Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere did not back down from a challenge, and she wasn't about to let this cave defeat her. Expanding the map of Connecting Cave, she saw that it housed multiple routes to various different cities and towns along Kalos' western coastline, Cyllage and Ambrette chief among them.

"Oh, no…" Louise groaned, causing Derflinger to look over her shoulder.

"What is it?" he asked, and Louise pointed to the Cyllage entrance on the map.

"There's been a small cave in at the Cyllage City entrance inside Connecting Cave. It says that it's going to take weeks to clear it," she revealed with an angry expression.

"Well that sucks," Derflinger noted then focused on the map. "Can't you take another entrance?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," she replied. "From what I can tell, the closest entrance is on the Muraille Coast that leads to a mountain path. The path itself takes us to Ambrette Town, which means we'll have to go there first. The original plan was to get to Cyllage in about a week, but given what we know now…" Louise hummed and tapped her chin. "I would have to guess that it'll take two weeks to arrive in Cyllage, barring any unexpected events."

"Well, that's not too bad," Derflinger noted with a nod. Louise nodded back then closed her Pokédex, stood up, and returned her Pokémon.

"I'm going to the PokéMart, get us the supplies we need," Louise said as she walked out of the room, the egg cannister tucked underneath her arm. "Tell Saito where I am if he gets back before me."

"Will do!" Derflinger shouted back as Louise closed the door behind her, leaving him all alone. After a moment, he turned to the tv and turned it back on, still showing the documentary from before. "Fascinating."

* * *

"Alright, Mr. Hiraga. I can safely say that you are good to go," the doctor stated. "I would recommend taking it easy for the next few days, and avoid strenuous activity, like trying to take on criminals."

"Thank you, Doctor Josephine," Saito responded with a smile. "I'll be sure to avoid any criminals for a while."

"Please do." Doctor Josephine smiled before typing into her tablet. "Any plans for what you and your girlfriend are doing next?"

"Who?" Saito asked with a raised eyebrow and confused expression. After Doctor Josephine looked at him with a knowing expression, Saito's face flashed with realization. "Oh, Louise? No, we aren't like that. Just good friends traveling together."

"Really?" Doctor Josephine cocked her head. "I could have sworn…never mind. Regardless, what are you two doing next?"

"We're on our way to Cyllage City to do the gym challenge, actually." Saito revealed while feeling his Pokédex vibrate in his pocket. "Hold on a sec…ah, crap."

"Something wrong?"

"Nah, more of a mild inconvenience. We're going to have to take a longer route to Cyllage through Connecting Cave. Louise is off getting two weeks of supplies, rather than the week we were originally expecting."

"Ah, I see. That is certainly an annoyance." The doctor finished typing into her tablet and walked to the door. "You are free to go, Saito. Please see the receptionist on your way out."

Saito nodded and walked out of the room. His thoughts were wild, focusing on both what happened before as well as what was to come. Truth be told, he had been putting on a brave face for everyone's sake. The attack on the daycare shook him to his very core. Saito was under no delusion that he very well could have died the day before, that his Pokémon could have died, that Louise could have died. The thought of any of those things occurring terrified him. Yet, he wouldn't have changed anything. He was proud of stopping them, and he would do so again in a heartbeat.

That didn't mean that he was going to let something like that happen again. Ideas on new training regimes, both for him and his Pokémon, swirled in his head as his thoughts turned to the upcoming Gym Leader. From what he read, the Gym Leader of Cyllage was a young man named Grant Lino. Before he became Gym Leader, he was a rock climber, one that traversed the deepest caves and highest peaks of the Kalos region before finally settling down. His specialty, then and now, was in Rock-type Pokémon. What exactly they were, Saito couldn't tell. That didn't mean he couldn't plan accordingly. Off the bat, Saito knew he had an inherent advantage. Two of his Pokémon had type advantage against any of Grant's presumable Pokémon, but he wasn't going to rely on that. Louise, on the other hand, had the opposite situation. Two of her Pokémon were weak to Rock-types, which meant that she would either have to catch a Pokémon strong against Rock-types or teach her current Pokémon more appropriate moves. Which route she would take, he didn't know.

When Saito finally reached the main lobby, Louise and Derflinger already there, his Pokédex buzzed once more. Bringing it to his face, his smiled faintly as he read the name on the caller ID. Opening it, he brought it to his ear.

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad."

* * *

Louise watched as Saito conversed with his parents, choosing not to eavesdrop. Faintly, snippets of what he was saying reached her ears, mostly on how he was doing fine and that he was happy, with a few mentions of her name now and then. The sight of his conversation brought a smile to her face

At the same time, it brought of pang of sadness through her, reminding the rosette of her situation. Unlike her companion, she could not talk to her family like he could. She was trapped in another world, and although the experience was proving to be rewarding and she had met friends she wouldn't give up for the world, she was still very far from home, cut off from her family.

' _Do they even know that I'm gone?_ ' Louise wondered and pursed her lips. It wouldn't surprise her if the Academy had suppressed any knowledge of what she started calling a Reverse Summoning. After all, losing a student in such a manner would have been a scandal of near biblical proportions, with the church likely getting involved and investigating matters on its own, not to mention the damage to the academy's reputation. But, Louise doubted that the Tristainian Academy of Magic could have suppressed her disappearance from her family for very long, especially not after nearly two months. The real question was, did they care she was gone?

"Hey, you're moping again," Derflinger cut into her thoughts, causing Louise to jump slightly in surprise. The Honedge was looking at her closely, studying her features before turning to face Saito then back at her. "Feelin' homesick?"

"…yeah," Louise quietly admitted and Derflinger nodded in reply.

"Sometimes, so do I. But, after six-thousand years, one learns to adapt."

"I highly doubt I'll live to be six-thousand."

"Hah, I hope not. You know how hard it is to keep this figure at my age?" Derflinger flex his sash to emphasize his body, causing a light chuckle to escape Louise's lips. "Ah ha! I got you to laugh!"

"No, no you didn't!" Louise retorted, quickly slapping a hand over her mouth to cover her smile. "I did no such thing! It was just a quick release of air."

"It counts!" Derflinger laughed, causing Louise to smile and shake her head. The Honedge then calmed himself and looked at her again. "Trust me, Louise. You'll get home soon, and when you do, your family will be ecstatic to see their little girl again, proud of who she's become."

"You think so?" Louise asked, and Derflinger nodded.

"I know so." The two then turned to face Saito as he walked over to them, placing his Pokédex in his pocket.

"Sorry about that, my parents were checking in on me." Saito shrugged before adopting a more serious expression. "They also gave me an update on Elizabeth."

"What they say?" Louise asked, her voice turning serious.

"Well, her parents got in touch with mine to tell them to thank me for helping their daughter," Saito revealed. "They also told my parents that Elizabeth is recovering, but isn't expected to be released for a few weeks. But, they did insist that she was fine."

"Oh, thank the Founder." Louise breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you think we should go see her in the hospital?"

"That was another thing, actually. Although they are grateful for us saving her life, and, uh, speaking of which, they are forwarding you a reward for donating your blood—"

"So _that's_ where all that money came from!"

"—which you've already seen and I presumably spent some of on the supplies we need. In any case, they aren't letting anyone see her at the moment. They're saying it's a security precaution. Frankly, I can see why. Elizabeth is, after all, the daughter of the richest family in Kalos. She's a prime target for kidnapping and ransom, especially in her current condition."

"Something tells me that Flare didn't exactly know who she was before, otherwise I doubt they would have allowed that Gallade to go as far as he did," Louise noted with a grimace. Ransoming of nobility was something that occurred sometimes in Tristain, although for higher ranking families like hers, the attempts usually ended with the royal guards rescuing the hostage and killing the kidnappers.

"I thought so, too. While it sucks, I can't help but agree with their decision. In any case, going back to Lumiose would be a waste of time, so we're better off continuing on to Ambrette Town."

"Then straight to Cyllage," Louise said after a few moments. Saito nodded back, and together they walked out of the hospital and into the bright light of day. They had a long road ahead of them, a road that now seemed a touch harder than just a few days before, but one that remained unchanged.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders. Not much happened here, but we did get to see some neat character interactions between the characters, feel the repercussions of what happened before, and the start of there journey to Connecting Cave. What lays in wait will be revealed in due time.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **Zander2212** : The egg was never planned to come back. I myself based it off of a generic Ice-type Egg concept/fan art, so it is an Ice-type. What it is we don't know.

 **Drewd00d** : Once again, thank you for your review. I enjoy seeing these longer ones.

Team Flare winning something was something that we decided on. It was done to show that Team Flare is a legitimate threat, not something that our heroes can easily bowl through. As for Agent Smith, you'll have to wait and see what his plans for our heroes are.

Louise's pride is a very important character trait of hers. Much of what she does is motivated by it, for good or ill. As with many things, it can lead to both good and bad things. Too much pride is indeed a sin, while you can be proud and use it to do good.

Now for the blood transfusion, magic does not work like that. Elizabeth will not be getting magic from the transfusion. Funnily enough, we had discussed something similar, but for a separate character that has yet to be introduced. Either way, only Louise will have magical powers. We feel that giving other characters powers cheapens Louise's powers. For example, we almost gave Saito Aura, which we obviously decided to drop like a hot brick once we realized how stupid and unneeded it was.

As for the brick, you'll have to wait and see! Trust me, you guys will like it.

Well, that's it for this chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it!


	34. Season 1, Episode 8, Chapter 2

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 8, Chapter 2**

[~][~]

It had been a few days since Saito and Louise had left Camphrier Town. During that time, things had descended into a modicum of normality for the two, with no life-threatening events coming their way. They simply woke up at dawn and traveled, conversing between the two of them as they did, stopping every so often to eat and train, before finally setting up camp for the night. A few times they would battle a wild Pokémon, but none that truly caught their eye.

"Hmm," Louise hummed to herself as she read her Pokédex, details on her Pokémon brought on screen. Saito had filled her in on what Gym awaited them in Cyllage City, and truth be told it worried her tremendously. As it turned out, the Gym there specialized in Rock-type Pokémon, owing to the mountainous terrain it presided in as well as a deep history of stonemasons hailing from the province. Although that information was indeed fascinating, it did nothing to obscure the fact that Louise was severely outmatched. As it currently stood, Louise only had three Pokémon, with Brennaraki and Aile weak to Rock-types and not many moves to counteract them. Espirit, especially after her evolution, might have a better chance against them, but Louise would have to be a fool to believe that she could solo a Gym with only one Pokémon. Viola in Santalune beat that out of her quickly, and then she had two Pokémon that were both super effective against that Gym's specialty.

That left her with very few options if she wanted to succeed, but she did have a few ideas. Preferably she could catch a Water or Grass-type Pokémon, but only if she found one that really spoke to her. The last thing she wanted to do was simply catch a Pokémon for the express purposes of beating one gym. There was also the fact that she simply might not find one. That left training the Pokémon she currently had.

"Okay, I think I know what we're going to do." Louise smiled and stood upright, moving away from the tree she had been using for shade. Idly, she noticed how her skin was becoming much more tanned recently, but ignored it to focus on her Pokémon. Seeing how she was now standing up, they stood in attention and awaited her words like the loyal Pokémon they were, and Louise couldn't help but smile.

"I won't lie and say that this Gym will not be difficult," she began with a slight frown, an expression her Pokémon grimly nodded at, "but I know we can pull this off. We just have to play to our strengths. Right now, our biggest strength is speed and maneuverability. We can exploit that, especially since Rock-types are slow and cumbersome. It won't matter if Grant's Pokémon are stronger than us if they can't _hit_ us."

Louise started to walk back and forth like she'd seen in a few war documentaries, acting like a general addressing her troops.

"At the same time, we can't focus entirely on avoiding enemy attacks. For as slow as Rock-types are, they are also able to both take a hit and dish one out. As such, we have to be able to strike fast and hard. Brennaraki, Aile, you two are especially weak in this area, with hardly any moves available that can actually hurt a Rock-type. But, I have a solution to that." Louise held up a circular disk and began waving it around. "What we have here is a Technical Machine, which through methods I will not even pretend to understand, can teach you moves that you otherwise might not be able to. In my incredible foresight—"

' _Didn't you say that they scammed you?_ ' Espirit politely asked, causing Louise to sputter and blush slightly. She quickly recovered and continued on.

" _In my incredible foresight_ ," Louise insisted, "I happen to have in possession all TMs available for the Kalos League. We can use these TMs to narrow the gap between us and the Rock-type Pokémon we will be facing. They will be our best bet to actually surmounting what lies before us." She clapped her hand together then pointed at Brennaraki.

"Brennaraki, you will be learning TM11 and TM22, which is Sunny Day and Solar Beam, respectively. Sunny Day will boost your Fire-type attacks strength as well as weaken Water-type attacks, while Solar Beam is the strongest Grass-type attack you can learn. While Solar Beam normally takes a while to charge, when combined with Sunny Day it can be fired instantaneously." Brennaraki excitedly nodded as Louise pointed to Aile.

"Aile, you will be learning TM51, which is Steel Wing. I can't emphasize how important that move is for you, and without it our chances of victory diminish." Aile chirped in response, a determined look to her eye.

' _What about me?_ ' Espirit asked while raising her hand, and Louise nodded.

"Espirit, you will be learning TM33 and TM86, Reflect and Grass Knot. Rock-types attack physically, and as such the reflective barriers will reduce the damage they can inflict on us. At the same time, Rock-types are typically heavy, so Grass Knot will be a tremendous help against them. Mastering both will be crucial to our victory."

Louise paused to take a breath. "That is what we will be focusing on over the next few weeks. Do you all understand?"

' _Aye-aye!_ ' Espirit cutely saluted while Brennaraki and Aile yipped and chirped in agreement. Louise smiled and clapped her hands together, proceeding to rub them in glee.

"Well then, let's get started." Pointing towards a nearby field, Louise and her Pokémon began to march away. Idly, she wondered how Saito's training was going, but the sound of an explosion told her things were going fine.

* * *

Saito coughed as smoke filled the air around him and his Pokémon, obscuring his vision at the same time. As the smoke cleared, he smiled as he saw that that target, a large boulder, had been completely shattered, and he pumped his fist in the air.

"Good job, Maindo," he said at the Ralts, who was twirling a Shadow Ball above his hand and a determined expression on his face. That expression had been near constant since the Daycare Siege, as the media had begun calling it. It wasn't hard to determine why. Out of all of them, Maindo was the most shaken up by what Flare had done. It still enraged him that anyone, human or Pokémon, would be willing to hurt someone else like that, but whatever he felt was nothing compared to how Maindo undoubtedly felt about the experience. Before, Maindo have barely half-assed his attempts at training, content to merely stay isolated from the others and belittle their efforts, he assumed. But after that Gallade and seeing Espirit evolve before him, it finally seemed that a fire had been ignited under his feet. If he had to guess, Maindo simply refused to let something like that ever happen again, something he himself readily agreed with.

"See if you can do it while Teleporting in and around the battlefield," Saito commanded as he popped open a can of lemonade, and Maindo grunted in response before proceeding to do as instructed. For a brief moment, Saito thought he was finally getting to the diminutive fairy, only to be reminded that was not fully the case when he heard a pop to the side of him, followed by a small psychic push that spilled his drink. Another pop was heard as Maindo teleported away, and Saito sighed in reluctant acceptance.

"You know, I'm starting to think that it's deliberate," he mused before turning towards his other Pokémon. Ronin was away from the rest of them, practicing on turn his streams of water into a narrow jet and cutting through rock while Tanuki stood across from him, body poised for combat. Rolling his shoulders, Saito readied himself and faced the cane then nodded. Tanuki ran at him and began throwing punches and kicks at his trainer, careful to not put as much force as he normally would. Saito, reacting to his Pokémon's blows, attempted to dodge and deflect them while occasionally throwing a few jabs of his own. They didn't hit and Tanuki's blows did occasionally slip through his defenses and lightly hit him, but he took comfort in knowing that is own personal training was shaping up. Just like how Maindo was refusing to let what happened to him happen again, so was Saito.

"Oof," Saito grunted as Tanuki accidentally kicked him in the chest a little harder than he had intended, knocking his trainer to the ground. Immediately, Ronin stopped what he was doing and ran over to his trainer, checking to see if he was alright.

"I'm fine, guys. Don't worry," Saito said as he picked himself off the ground. Sighting to himself, Ronin briefly glared at an apologetic Tanuki, only for Saito to rub his starter's head. "It's fine, Ronin. It was just an accident. Still, I think that's a sign that I've had enough for today. You guys keep going, I'll be over there."

Saito turned and began to walk away to a nearby tree, only to hear the sound of softly crunching grass beside him. Looking down, he saw Ronin walking alongside him, and Saito couldn't help but smile. He always was the most serious and protective of his Pokémon, especially over the past few days. There was hardly a moment when Ronin let him out of his sight. Seeing a large enough tree, Saito continued onward and sat against its thick trunk, Ronin plopping down beside him.

"I'm fine, Ronin. Really," Saito soothed his starter while crossing his arms behind his head. He only received a bark in response, and the two sat in silence. The silence allowed Saito time to think about his upcoming match with Grant. Just because two of his Pokémon were strong against Rock-types did not mean he was going to rest on his laurels. Gym Leaders were eight of the best trainers in the region, and Grant would make him work for it like all the others.

Putting away those thoughts for a moment, he looked to the far end of the grove they were in to see Derflinger dutifully watching over the Pokémon Egg. Espirit maintained that it was nowhere close to hatching, and by her estimates wouldn't have for nearly a month. That meant that, whatever it turned out to be, he could not use it in his upcoming gym battle. That wasn't to say he would have anyway, as sending out a freshly hatched Pokémon was stupid in so many ways, but he was allowed to speculate. He wondered what it was. If he had to guess by the egg's coloration, it was a Steel-type, but what exactly he wouldn't know until it finally hatched. Still, he was more than happy to wait and see.

Suddenly, a yawn escaped Saito's lips, after which he couldn't help but chuckle. Looking around, he felt how nice it actually was underneath the tree. The branches provided ample shade, which meant the sun wasn't going into his eyes, and a cool breeze brush past his skin. His eyes began to droop, and a thought that he could rest a bit started gaining more and more appeal.

Soon after, he closed his eyes completely, and drifted off into a deep sleep. By the time he woke up, he noticed a few things right away. For one, Ronin and Tanuki had snuggled under his arms and were now using him as a bed, snoring softly into him. Maindo was sleeping as well, albeit merely against the same tree he and the others were against rather than on him. Derflinger and the egg were nowhere to be found, and if he had to guess the two had simply gone back to Louise.

"Hmm, must have overslept," he grumbled as he took in the sight of the noon sun. He wasn't angry at the face he overslept, more that he knew Louise was not going to be happy about it. They were supposed to train for an hour or so then head off to Connecting Cave, and she would not appreciate a sleep induced delay.

"Oh well, she'll have to—" Saito started to convince himself before getting the wind knocked out of his chest as something landed on his chest. The impact woke Ronin and Tanuki from their naps, and the three of them looked down on Saito's chest to see a sleeping acorn-shaped Pokémon using it as a bed. The two prepared to attack, only for Saito to quickly wave them down and pull out his Pokédex as quietly as he could, turning down its volume and activating its scanning feature.

" _Seedot, the Acorn Pokémon,_ ," it read. " _Through the stems on its caps, Seedots can absorb moisture and nutrients from trees. The more hydrated a Seedot is, the glossier the outer shell._ "

Reading the information presented to him, Saito briefly looked up to see a shriveled up tree branch, answering the question as to where it came from. It must have absorbed all of the nutrients it could from the tree branch while it was sleeping, and the breeze then knocked it off. Satisfied, he turned his attention back to the Seedot only to see a single eye now opened and staring right at him. For a moment, neither of them moved. Given how the other party to the silent conversation was a wild Pokémon, Saito took this as a positive.

"Hello there," he tentatively began, not quite sure of what to make of this. Seeing how the fully awake Seedot wasn't doing anything more than stare at him, beside getting fully upright on its feet, Saito took this as a sign and continued. "Listen, uh…you're kind of standing on my chest."

The Seedot looked down and then back up at Saito, then nodded in understanding. It made no effort to move, making Saito sigh. "Can you move, please?"

Seedot stared at him for a moment then tilted its body-head to the side, an approximation of a shrug if Saito had ever seen one. Only then did it hop off, but rather than continue going, it continued to stare at the boy as he stood up. His other Pokémon moved to his side, but Saito again waved them down. The Seedot's actions were beginning to intrigue him, and he was curious as to where things would go.

"So, little guy," Saito began, only for the Seedot to look offended, furrowing its brow and narrowing its eyes. Realizing his mistake, Saito hastily corrected himself. "Girl, little girl. Sorry." Seedot stared at him for a moment then nodded in acceptance, allowing Saito to continue. Kneeling down, Saito took out a bottle of mineral water and held it out. "You want something to drink? We have a lot."

Seedot looked at the offered bottle then shrugged again in acceptance. She then waddled up to the bottle, allowing Saito to stick it on her cap and begin to suck it dry. She appeared to enjoy it, eating it with slightly more gusto than she had previously been displaying and allowing Saito the chance to observe her more closely. He got the impression that this Pokémon either had a very laid back personality, or simply didn't really care about a lot of things. Probably both, but at the very least her personality was agreeable.

"You know," he began as the Seedot finished drinking and stared back at him with indifferent eyes, "I get the feeling that you've been in this forest your entire life, seen everything that it has to offer." Seedot stared for a moment then nodded.

"I take it that gets pretty boring. Well, me and my friends back there," he thrust his thumb back towards his Pokémon, with Tanuki excitedly waving at her indifferent face, Ronin staying on guard, and Maindo turning his back on them in his sleep, "we'll be seeing a lot of really interesting places, filled with People and Pokémon you simply won't be able to find here. If you want, you can come with us and see it all. What do you say?"

Seedot stared at him for a moment then shrugged. While Saito might not be able to speak Pokémon, he could understand when someone was saying 'sure, why not'. Pulling out a Pokéball, he held it out one last time to give Seedot an out, and when she nodded in approval he lightly tapped her in the forehead. Showing her lack of resistance, the ball didn't even shake before it clicked shut and beeped, indicating a successful capture.

"Well, that was a surreal capture if I've ever seen one," he mused to himself as he walked over to wake up Maindo. His and the others' bewildered expressions made him wonder how Louise was going to take the news that he caught a Pokémon while napping.

' _Probably not very well.'_

* * *

"Really?" Louise asked with a bewildered expression, alternating between looking at Saito and looking at the Seedot currently in his arms. " _Really?_ "

"Yeah, it was certainly bizarre," Saito admitted with a sheepish grin.

"She fell on you?"

"Yes."

"And decided to come with you because, and I quote, she figured why not?"

"Espirit?"

' _That is what she told me when I asked her last time,_ ' Espirit confirmed while she and the other Pokémon stared at the nonchalant Seedot. For a moment, Louise looked flabbergasted only to sigh and rub her forehead.

"You know what, it doesn't really matter how you caught her," Louise stated, then turned to Saito and smiled. "Congratulations on the capture."

A brief look of confusion crossed Saito's face then was replaced with a faint smile. "Thank you."

"You know, you are taking this rather—" Derflinger began, only to be silenced by a glare from both Saito and Louise. "Shutting up now."

"Good answer." Louise nodded then turned to look at the rest of their camp, checking to make sure that everything was packed away. Seeing that it was, she nodded to Saito and began to walk westward. Saito nodded then put Seedot back on the ground and picked up the egg before proceeding to follow.

"So, any thoughts as to what you're going to name her?" Derflinger asked after a few minutes of walking.

"Not sure yet," Saito admitted with a shrug. Angling the egg into one arm, he pulled out his Pokédex to look at Seedot's evolutionary line, hoping to see a theme in them. "Huh, they kinda look like tengus…"

"What's a tengu?" Louise asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"Kantoan spirits that guarded nature," Saito answered while thumbing through his Pokédex.

"Ah, thank you." Louise then turned her head to look at Saito while they continued to walk. "Well?"

Saito hummed to himself then smiled as he pocketed his Pokédex. Turning to Seedot, he briefly stopped to face her directly, prompting the others to do so as well. "You know, Tengu's not a bad name. How about it? How does Tengu sound?"

Seedot stared at him blankly for a moment then nonchalantly shrugged.

"She says fine… I think," Derflinger spoke for her, prompting Saito and Louise to look at him, their faces asking the same question. "Seedots like her communicate via pheromones released from their caps, which I can't actually understand. I can read body language, though."

"Ah," Saito and Louise said at the same time. Nodding at Derflinger, they returned their Pokémon and set off again. Looking at her map, Louise hummed as she monitored their progress. From what she could tell, they would reach Connecting Cave by nightfall, but she wasn't stupid enough to try spelunking at night. Not yet, at least. Luckily, there appeared to be a mansion of sorts about an hour from the cave entrance, a place called the Battle Chateau. Judging by the name, it was obviously a place for trainers, which meant they could probably stay there for the night. Or, at the very least, check it out before setting up camp.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon when the Battle Chateau finally came into view for the travelling trainers. True to its name, it was a large stone chateau extending over the Kalos River. Stone archways allowed the water to flow underneath, and blue tiles topped the roof and spires. Separate from the building itself was a large stone circle with a red outer edge, likely an arena.

"Okay, this is it," Louise stated as she, Saito, and Derflinger stopped in front of the structure. "Are you sure you're okay with us staying here before going into the cave?"

"Let's see. We can either sleep on actual beds in an insulated room, or we can sleep outside in tents." Saito dryly looked at Louise then chuckled. "Trust me, Louise. I'm fine with it. I'm not in any rush to try nighttime cave diving, either."

"Just making sure." Louise nodded then began walking across the bridge, Saito and Derflinger following after her. He knew why she was making sure he was okay with it. She still felt guilty over how it was her desire that lead to him getting hurt, and so now she was trying to overcompensate for something he had already assured her of. Slightly frowning, Saito figured he would have to talk to her again later, but now was not the time.

The two continued walking across the bridge, taking note of the beautiful landscape they found themselves in. The stone chateau seemed to blend effortlessly into the river, and Louise couldn't help but remember the mansions of the nobility back home in Halkegenia. Before she could ruminate in her thoughts more, she and Saito arrived at the large wooden doors into the chateau. Politely, she gently knocked on the door and crossed her hands in front of her, nudging Saito to make sure did the same. A few moments later, the doors opened to reveal a sharply dressed man with a thin moustache welcoming them.

"Good afternoon, monsieur and mademoiselle," he said with a small bow. "Welcome to the Battle Chateau. Please, come in."

"Thank you, monsieur." Louise nodded and walked inside, Saito and Derflinger following in after her. "Pardon us for the intrusion, but we were hoping we could stay the night before heading on to Connecting Cave."

"Ah, I see." The butler nodded in understanding. "I imagine cave diving at night is a dangerous affair, and it would be wise to wait until morning. I see no problem with it."

"Thank you, sir," Saito thanked the man and bowed.

"Please follow me and I will show you to your rooms for the evening." The butler threw his arm to the side towards the main staircase and escorted the trainers up it towards one of the main hallways. As they walked, Saito and Louise inspected the structure more closely, with Louise humming in approval.

"I take it you are enjoying what you're seeing so far?" the butler asked with a confident smile, to which Louise nodded back. "Thank you. The staff and I take great pride in maintaining the facility for any and all guests."

"I take it you have a lot of visitors?" Saito asked.

"Of course. Mostly trainers, but we do occasionally get sightseers and tourists who are simply curious about the place. The frequency of visitations is why we have a policy of keeping rooms available for any and all guests." Saito nodded at his answer while Louise simply looked curious.

"I figured that this place was an attraction for trainers," she began, "but can you explain to me the difference between this facility and a regular Gym?"

"Certainly. Unlike the Gyms, we are an independently owned and operated battle institution that actually predates the Kalos League itself. Our origins stretch back to the battle traditions of the Kalosian nobility, and although the nobility has fallen out of favor in Kalosian society, we still carry on those traditions proudly. Trainers from every corner of Kalos can enter into one of our many battle sessions, with each victory furthering their progression and rank."

"Rank?"

"Here at the Battle Chateau," the butler explained, "trainers are denoted ranks based off of their standing. The ranks are inspired by the very noble ranks that once ruled this land. In order, a trainer starts as a Baron or Baroness and, through victory in battles, advance to Viscount or Vistountess, Earl or Countess, Marquis or Marchioness, Duke or Duchess, and finally a Grand Duke or Duchess."

"Wait." Louise stopped and stared at the butler, prompting the others to turn and face her. "You just…give out ranks of nobility?" Saito sighed at her question, knowing exactly where it was coming from, but the butler continued on without knowing what he was going towards.

"Only in regards to this facility. Outside of the Battle Chateau, the ranks mean nothing." The butler shrugged and turned away, not seeing the furious look on Louise's face nor Saito's desperate actions to calm her down. She moved to counter, but the look on Saito's face demanded she calm down, and so she did. The group continued down the hall before the butler finally stopped in front of a room and opened its door, revealing two twin-size beds with canopies.

"Here is your room." He beckoned them inside with an outstretched arm. As the two entered, he bowed to them. "In case any of you are interested, there will be another battle session later this evening. You two are more than welcome to attend. Please see me in the foyer if you decide to do so."

"Thank you, sir," Saito replied with a smile. The butler smiled back then closed the door. Once he was sure the man was out of earshot, he turned to a steaming Louise and put his hands on his hips. "Well?"

"Well what?" Louise shot back, attempting to play ignorant. Saito didn't buy it for a second.

"Well, you were about to shout that guy's ear off about the ranking. So, what gives?"

"What gives?" Louise put her back pack on the ground and began to march back and forth. "What gives is that they're just giving out titles of nobility like they are _nothing_! Nobility is a mark of honor and prestige, something you are born into! Simply giving it away completely devalues it!"

"Okay, I can see why you feel that way. But," Saito held up a finger, "keep this in mind: all of this is just for _fun_. There is no reason to throw a fit over it."

"But-!"

"Listen, Louise." Saito sternly looked at her, halting her retort. He then sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I get it. You value nobility very highly. Our time with the Princess proved that very much. But, you have to understand. For everyone else, nobility doesn't mean much anymore. Hell, before I met you, I thought nobles were just people who sat in big mansions, drinking tea and doing pretty much nothing."

"Hey!"

"The point is," Saito continued, ignoring her outburst, "you're getting yourself worked up over nothing. Just relax and let people have their fun, okay. Besides, outside of these walls, it means nothing. Okay?"

"I…" Louise looked at Saito again then closed her eyes, releasing a sigh as she did. "Okay."

"Thank you."

"…You're going to participate, aren't you?"

"Yes, actually. You?"

"Not a chance and nothing you can say will convince me otherwise."

"Fair enough."

* * *

Inside the chateau's study, a large burly man sat on a leather seat, reading a book. He was clad in steel armor, befitting of a knight, yet he gingerly moved the pages unimpeded. The man was reading an autobiography, a soldier's account of the Great War and the destruction of Parfum Palace. Real life stories such as these always intrigued him, and any chance he could take to read more was a chance he leapt onto.

A knock on the door then caught his attention, prompting him to close his book and put it away.

"Come in," he called out. As he did, the study's doors were opened, revealing one of the staff who bowed towards him.

"Grand Duke Wikstrom," she declared, "the afternoon session is about to begin. Do you wish to attend?"

"Ah, yes. Thank you for reminding me." Wikstrom got out of his seat and placed the book back where he found it. He would have to finish reading it later, but now was not the time for reading. For if there was one thing an Elite Four trainer like himself enjoyed more than reading war stories, it was partaking in honorable battle.

"Please, lead the way."

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! We got a new capture, as well as the beginnings of the Battle Chateau. It will be a Saito focused chapter, which is something that has been needed for a while, but what will come of it? You guys will have to wait and see to find out.

Onto the Q&A:

 **torbenefb** : Actually, Halkegenia has faint traces of Nordic roots to it. Brimir and his people, the Markey, were people who worshiped multiple gods based off of the Norse pantheon, used runes for language, and their names were Nordic. Although nowadays Halkegenia is more French, English, German, Italian, and Belgian, Norse is still an influence on Halkegenia. As Louise is a highly educated noblewoman, she would be in a position to know about those influences which in turn influenced her nickname. Brennaraki is our approximation of "fire fox" in Norse, taking the word for fire, "Brenn", and combining it with the word for fox, "araki". Is it an exact match? Probably not, but it was a nickname we all enjoyed and felt fit Louise.

 **Drewd00d** : Don't worry about it, man. I enjoy these long reviews, so by all means keep it up.

Oh trust me, I understand the feeling regarding many promising stories never getting a satisfactory ending. We aim to make sure that we finish our story, at the very least til the end of Kalos and a little bit into Halkegenia. And this story will be a long haul, but one that we will try to speed up a bit. Not every route will have a dedicated chapter to it, and we'll be doing less filler chapters as time goes on. Expect things to pick up shortly.

Louise was just listening to classical music from Earth's history, not anything in particular. If you want it to be a variation on the Camphrier theme, then by all means go for it. She just as well could be listening to a classical version of Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce. Point is, it's open to interpretation. And yes, Louise and Saito were both having to heal from that event. Louise is a person who would blame herself if someone she cared about got injured because of her, and so we've expressed that.

As for the Gym, that is something that, as seen here, Louise is fully aware of and is already working to counter. She won't let what happened to Viola happen again. But, as also shown, Louise bought all of the TMs back in Episode 1, she just didn't think to use them until now. So, she does have options. Also, Louise took the egg with her as she didn't want to leave it alone with Derflinger.

 **fangs of death** : Thank you! I'm glade that you're enjoying the story so far. Yes, the Pokémon that they both catch are based off of their personalities. Each of them focus on a specific trait that they possess in some way. We have them all planned out and so you guys will have to wait and see what they all will be.

That's it for this week. See you all next time!


	35. Season 1, Episode 8, Chapter 3

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 8, Chapter 3**

[~][~]

"Excuse me, sir?" Saito asked the head butler. The man turned around and smiled politely at the young trainer, putting his hand over his heart and slightly bowing.

"What can I do for you, monsieur?" he asked while straightening himself.

"I was hoping to sign up for the battle session this evening."

"Ah, of course." The butler nodded and turned to walk away, beckoning Saito to follow him. The boy did, Louise not too far behind. "Mademoiselle, can we expect you this evening as well?"

"No, monsieur," Louise respectfully declined. "I have decided not to attend this evening. However, I do wish to spectate my friend."

"Very well." The butler stopped in front of a large and thick wooden desk and opened one of the cabinets above it. Looking over Saito with a keen eye, he turned back to the cabinet and pulled out a black suit and white button up shirt.

"All participants in the Battle Chateau must wear these," the butler explained as he handed the fancy clothes to Saito. As the boy took the cloths in hand, the butler handed him a pair of black shoes and socks. "The session starts in an hour. Please make your way to the main foyer whenever you are ready."

"I will." Saito nodded and began walking back to his room. Louise turned to follow him, only for the butler to cough and catch her attention. For a moment, Louise wondered what he wanted, only for him to hold out a light blue skirt with a white blouse. It wasn't hard for her to realize what he wanted.

"I assume I am to wear that this evening?" she asked, and the butler nodded. Nodding back, Louise took the dress and heels from the man with a polite smile. "Thank you, monsieur."

"You are welcome, mademoiselle." The butler bowed, to which Louise smiled back before turning and walking away. She walked through the chateau halls silently, occasionally hearing muffled sounds of people in guest rooms talking with their Pokémon. Most of their voices sound plain, indicative of what would could only describe as 'common' roots. Others mere much more prim and polish, not to mention full of themselves, and it wasn't hard to plant those individuals as coming from money.

Her thoughts couldn't help but drift back to what Saito had told her just before they went down, how in Kalos the concept of nobility was something in the past. The way Saito simply described nobles as being stuck up do-nothings, how people come here in an act of play. Part of her was infuriated at the very idea of it, that nobility had become so debased in Kalos that it no longer meant anything. She was still upset about it. But, that wasn't to say that she wasn't blind to the system's faults. Saito's simple assessment of nobles, as blanket as it was, was unfortunately based in truth. Many of her classmates at the Tristainian Academy of Magic could be perfectly described as stuck up, doing nothing and living purely off of their family's name. Many more treated the commoner workers like trash, barely acknowledging their existence at best. Not even she could say that she was immune to those attitudes, if only as a coping mechanism for the sheer hell that was her life up to that point.

That wasn't to say that everyone back home was like that. Tabitha mostly kept to herself, outside of sticking by Kirche's side. Even then, for all her numerous faults, Kirche never once used her family name to try and get what she wanted. Why would she need to use that when she could use her other…assets. Louise scowled at that thought then shook her head, only to sadly frown.

' _Heh, hard to believe I miss them_ ,' she thought as she rounded a corner. Truth be told, she almost missed everyone at the Academy, at least in some way. Whether that was simply due to a general feeling of homesickness or an actual desire to see them again, she did not know, but that didn't mean she could dismiss the feeling outright. That feeling of homesickness had come up every now and then, especially during that first week, but her travels with her Pokémon and Saito had helped to mitigate it greatly. She still missed her home, and she often dreamt of coming home victorious and with an entire team of Pokémon, but no longer did she think that being dragged to Kalos was the worst thing to happen to her.

Instead, she was beginning to feel like coming to Kalos was the single best thing to happen to her.

Louise's thoughts stopped as she closed in on her and Saito's room. She waited a moment then knocked.

"Saito, are you good in there?" she asked loudly enough to be heard through the thick wooden door.

" _Just a sec!_ " Saito yelled, his voice muffled by the doors. The sounds of straining and things being pushed around could be heard, causing Louise to raise her eyebrow at the commotion. Bouncing up on her feet, Louise patiently waited before Saito finally opened the door, his clothes slightly wrinkled and his tie in a tangled knot.

"Hey," he said in an attempt to appear like he knew what he was doing. Louise didn't buy it for a second, showing her disbelief with a pointed and unamused stare.

"What is this?" She gestured towards him. He moved to answer his current state, only for Louise's continued stare to cut him off, making him sigh in defeat.

"…I don't know how to tie a tie…" he softly revealed, making Louise groan.

"For Brimir's sake, Saito…"

"I've never had to tie one before! I don't exactly go to high society stuff all that often!" he defended himself, only for Louise to point at his chest.

"Well, you've decided to go to one, so now you have to look like you do." She pushed herself inside the room, dragging him along by his shirt before making him stand in place. "Now, hold still. You're lucky that I know how to do this."

"Didn't you tell me that you once tried to get one of Sycamore's assistants to dress you during your first week at his lab?" Saito asked with an amused smile on his face, one that only brightened at the red hue Louise's face turned into.

" _I told you that in confidence!_ " she hissed at him while fixing his tie, ignoring Saito's chuckles. That conversation with Sycamore had not been a pleasant one, and she had apologized to the girl shortly afterwards. She was lucky that Sophie and Cosette left for their Alolan vacation shortly afterwards, otherwise things might have gotten more awkward.

After a few more minutes, making sure Saito looked as perfect as possible, Louise finally stepped away and admired her work. Pride and a sense of accomplishment filled her as she took in how pristine Saito looked. He looked sharp, like he was supposed to be here, and Louise nodded to herself.

"You look good," she said with a smile. Saito smiled back and moved to thank her, only for Louise to point at the door. "Now out. I have to get dressed, too."

"Do you need me to help you with that?" he joked as he began walking towards the door.

" _Out!_ "

Saito continued to chuckle to himself as he walked out the door. He waited in the hall for quite some time, occupying himself by leaning against the wall and surfing the internet on his Pokédex. After several minutes, the door finally opened to reveal Louise in a striking blue dress, her rosecrown hair neatly brushed and looking as regal as possible.

"You look nice," he complimented her, making Louise smile. She then straightened herself and held out her palm.

"Well, shall we?" she asked. Rather than take her hand, Saito merely stood there in mute confusion, making Louise scowl. "You're supposed to take my hand and escort me, you uncultured dog!"

"Oh, sorry," he apologized before awkwardly linking her hand and arm with his. Together, the two trainers walked down the hallway, idly chatting to each other about a myriad array of banal topics before reaching the main foyer. Inside, they were greeted by a multitude of people, each dressed in similar suits and dresses to their own. Most looked exactly like theirs, indicating that they were simply travelling trainers, but a few had suits and dresses that looked to be of much higher quality. They were similar to the clothes Elizabeth wore, in fact, telling them that those trainers came from wealth.

"Hmm, looks to be about…thirty people," Saito declared after doing a quick mental count of all the participants. Louise did the same and found it to be accurate, nodding to herself afterwards. Eyeing the clock, they noticed how they still had fifteen minutes until the battle session was set to begin, and so they calmly walked to the edge of the room where a butler was handing out hors d'oeuvres. Saito took a few for himself and Louise. He then sat down on a nearby chair, Louise sitting down next to him.

They stayed that way for quite some time, preferring to sit in silence and people watch rather than continue to converse. Louise took the time to study Saito's would be opponents, the way many of them showed off their fancy Pokéballs and accessories, and hummed to herself. Everyone, regardless of status, looked as though they knew what they were doing. They held an air of confidence around them, especially the ones wearing colorful capes that Louise could only guess marked what rank they were.

One man in particular stood out from all the others. Unlike everyone else, he wasn't wearing a suit but rather a full set of plate armor, sans helmet. He had spiky grey hair that jetted out on the sides, looking vaguely like horns, and a star-shaped diadem sat atom his head. The aura around him was one of confidence, charisma, and sheer power. She did not know who this man was, but she knew that Saito wouldn't stand a chance.

"Saito, who is that?" she quietly asked her companion. Quickly taking a bite from an hors d'oeuvre, Saito followed Louise's gaze to the armored man and almost choked. "Saito!"

Saito coughed and pounded at his chest before the small bit of food was dislodged from his windpipe. After a few moments to catch his breath, Saito looked at the man closely and narrowed his eyes.

"That, Louise," he began while subtly pointing at the armored man, "is Wikstrom Thyméo. Head of the Thyméo noble house and a member of the Kalos Elite Four."

"He's with the Elite Four?" she asked then studied the man more closely. Saito nodded.

"Actually used to be champion before Diantha beat him a few years back. Really big into Kalos' history, funding archeological digs across the region as well as preserving any historical accounts he can find. By all accounts, he's a pleasant man, if a little…eccentric."

"How so?"

"From what I've read, he's _really_ big into chivalry and talking like he's some kind of knight."

"Ah." Louise looked at the man again then shrugged. Certainly explained his choice of attire, and it wasn't as though he wasn't allowed to have his quirks. At least his was harmless and good natured.

The sound of a spoon tapping against a porcelain cup drew everyone's attention. Seeing how everyone's attention was now on him, the head butler coughed into his gloved fist to clear his throat before straightening himself.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly to the crowd, making sure that those in the back could hear him clearly. "Without further ado, I proudly declare that tonight's battle session may now commence. I am also happy to announce that we have a special guest this evening, Grand Duke Wikstrom Thyméo of the Elite Four. He will be joining us and participating this evening, so please bid him welcome."

The Elite Four member bowed to a polite applause from the audience, which Louise and Saito joined in on. Internally, Saito was both nervous about the prospect of potentially facing a member of the Elite Four, as well as excited about the opportunity. Louise looked to be feeling the same, although more nervous for him than anything.

"Please, if everyone may gather around and grab a battle slip. These will determine who exactly you will be facing this evening," the butler declared. Standing up, Saito looked at Louise and nodded then walked over to a nearby maid, the girl holding a plate of paper slips. Grabbing one, he moved back to Louise and opened it, revealing the number five in bold lettering.

"Now then, please find your matching partner and proceed to one of our battle arenas." At the butler's words, the assembled crowed nodded and began to move. Saito did as well, placing down his food and started to search for his assigned partner. Louise followed after him, despite not partaking in the battling herself.

"Excuse me, is your number 'five'?" a young blond man asked Saito, holding up a piece of paper with the number emblazoned on it. Saito nodded and held up his paper. "Splendid! My name is Jean, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Likewise. My name is Saito," Saito replied as he shook hands with the young man. Louise took the time to study his apparel and quickly came to the conclusion that the boy was rich. His clothes were much more pristine that hers or Saito's, and he had an air of importance around him. At the very least, he appeared to be friendly.

"And who might your lovely friend be?" Jean asked with a warm smile. Taking her cue, Louise smiled and curtsied.

"My name is Louise," she said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Louise. Will you be participating tonight as well?"

"No, I'm afraid not. I'm merely supporting my friend."

"I see. Shame, I would have loved a chance to battle you as well. Oh well," Jean shrugged then looked at Saito. "I shall meet you at the arena, Mr. Hiraga."

"Sure thing. I'll be there in a bit." Jean nodded and walked away, leaving Saito and Louise behind. The two trainers looked at each other for a moment before walking after Saito's opponent.

"He seems nice," Louise noted, to which Saito nodded in agreement. He wondered how exactly the upcoming battle would go, although he himself already knew which Pokémon he was going to use. This would be a prime opportunity to use Tengu, see exactly what she was capable of.

Their path led them to a large room a set of double mahogany doors leading inside. A pair of servants politely opened the threshold for them, granting them entrance and revealing the large group of trainers already inside. There were several red circles on the ground, likely rings for battles. They saw Jean sipping a glass of sparkling water among a group of trainers, chatting among themselves, but their attention was drawn to the large window at the far side of the room.

"Holy crap, Wikstrom is here…" Saito muttered as he looked at the armored Elite Four trainer. He was standing by himself, the other trainers too intimidated to come near. Part of Saito wanted to go talk to the man, only for find his feet rooted to the ground. He then heard the clattering of heels as Louise confidently strode forward to the trainer. Saito hurried after her, and their approach was noticed by Wikstrom.

"Why, hello there!" he boisterously called out while puffing out his chest. "What can I do for you youngsters?"

"Hello, sir. My name is Louise and this is my friend Saito," she announced while Saito meekly waved at the man. "Do you mind if we stay here in the sunlight with you?"

"But of course! I don't mind at all!" Wikstrom boomed and smiled as he gestured to his side. Smiling at him, Louise walked up to the window and sighed as she let the sunlight hit her tanned skin.

"So, can I expect to you see you two participate this evening?" Wikstrom asked, to which Louise shook her head.

"No, I'm afraid that I am not participating this evening. I'm only here to support my friend." She gestured towards Saito, who waved at the nobleman and smiled.

"I'm Saito, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you," he declared while holding out his hand. Wikstrom smiled and shook it in turn before a maid came into the room and caught everyone's attention.

"Everyone, please find your partner and an open battle ring. These first few battles will be one on one. You may start when ready," she announced.

"Well, that's my cue. Wish me luck," Saito declared as he confidently walked over to Jean. Jean met him halfway and nodded confidently at him then, after spotting an open ring, both walked over to it.

"May the best trainer win," Jean stated while holding out his hand. Saito smiled and took it before each separated towards the opposite ends. Saito took hold of Tengu's Pokéball and readied himself as Jean did the same with one of his own. After a moment, they both sprung into action and threw their balls towards the ring.

"Tengu!"

"Rattata!"

Two bright bursts of light erupted onto the field, revealing Tengu and a black-furred Rattata. Arching up his eyebrow, Saito pulled out his Pokédex at the strange looking Rattata and scanned it.

" _Rattata, the Mouse Pokémon. Originally native to the Kanto Region, Rattatas have spread throughout much of the planet by hitching onto trade ships. The ones that arrived in Alola in particular have noted to have undergone a massive evolutionary divergence, adapting to be nocturnal in order to survive the island's natural predators._ "

"Hmm, interesting…" Saito hummed as he read more detail on the creature, noting the added Dark-typing to the Normal-type Pokémon as well as the creature being male. Clicking the device closed, Saito pocketed it and readied himself.

"Tengu, Harden!" Saito ordered, prompting the Seedot's body to glow with a white sheen.

"Rattata, Quick Attack!" At Jean's order, the Rattata disappeared in a dark blur before impacting Tengu with a loud thud. Tengu skidded across the ground but was able to remain on her stubby feet. She stared at the Rattata, remaining the picture of calm while her opponent worked to find an opening in her defense.

"Bite!" Jean ordered again, causing Rattata to rush forward at her. As he neared, Tengu's body glowed just as Rattata's fangs bit down on her cap. She grunted in pain before using Growth to forcibly pry the jaws off of her.

"Tengu, Leech Seed!" Saito ordered. Tengu immediately complied, launching three seeds from her cap that soared towards Rattata. As they neared, thin vines exploded from the seeds and attached themselves to Rattata's body then glowed. Rattata could feel his strength being sapped away, while Tengu could feel strength and vigor returning to her.

"Grrgh," Jean grunted as he thought over how to get out of this situation. If he had any hope of winning, he needed to get past that Seedot's defenses before the Leech Seed could take his Pokémon out. Clenching his fist, he shouted out for his Pokémon to use Hyper Fang. Rattata's fangs glowed with energy and elongated as it jumped towards Seedot once more. Tengu reacted by glowing once again, taking the full force of Rattata's powerful jaws. She thrashed from the pain and threw her body from side to side, trying to pry the Rattata off, but Rattata merely tightened his grip. She fell down slightly to the base of her body-head, causing Jean to grin, only for the Leech Seed to glow and cause Rattata to flinch, releasing his grip and allowing Tengu to get free.

"Tengu, Nature Power!" Saito shouted. Tengu's body glowed with energy before several stars formed in front of her body. They shot towards Rattata, each one finding their mark and sending him skidding back.

"Synthesis!" At Saito's order, Tengu's body glowed in a green slight. The injuries on her body sealed themselves, scratches disappearing and her body returning to prime form. Rattata appeared to get nervous at this development, while Tengu looked as unamused as ever even as she used Growth. Her body then glowed in a soft white and she stayed perfectly still.

"Rattata, use Quick Attack again!" Jean seized the opening and shouted a command. Rattata, ignoring the pain of the Leech Seed sapping away at his strength, sped towards Tengu and struck her body. Tengu reeled form the impact as she skidded back. Following up on this, Rattata leapt towards Tengu and used Hyper Fang, biting down on her cap repeatedly before throwing her to the side. The pain of Leech Seed sapped through him once more, but he ignored it in favor of using Pursuit, his body becoming surrounded in a dark Aura and hitting Tengu in the face. The last impact send Tengu flying back, making her roll across the ground before coming to a stop. For a moment, Jean and his Rattata thought they finally won, only for Tengu to slowly rise to her feet. Jean shook his head and ordered Rattata to attack once more, only for Saito to smirk.

"Bide!" Jean's eyes widened as he realized exactly what that last glow had been. Rattata tried to get out of the way, only for a large white beam to erupt out of Tengu's body and strike across Rattata's chest. The impact shot him across the ring and outside the red boundary line into the walls that surrounded them. It fell to the ground with a thud, and to his credit tried to rise to his feet, only for the Leech Seed to activate one last time and sapped away the last of his strength. Rattata then fell back to the ground, well and truly defeated. Jean looked at his Pokémon in worry before sighing and rubbing the back of his head.

"Return," he said as he pulled out Rattata's Pokéball and shot a red beam at hiss prone form. Sighing once more, he turned back to Saito to see that he did the same thing to Tengu, and the two walked towards each other and shook hands. "That was a splendid match, Saito."

"Thank you." Saito smiled.

"How long have you had that Seedot? She seemed to be remarkably well trained."

"Actually, I've only had her since about noon today. This was her first official battle."

"Truly? Well, you and her have a bright future ahead of you. I wish you luck."

"You too, man." With only final shake, Saito and Jean separated and went back to their original spots. Moving back to Louise and Wikstrom, he was greeted by a polite nod and a boisterous thumbs up from the armored trainer.

"Good show, lad! That was quite the performance, indeed!" he declared while slapping Saito's back. The boy grunted and laughed while rubbing the sore spot on his shoulder before looking at Louise.

"That was quite good," she agreed. "But, I can't help but feel Tengu needs more options."

"Yeah, I noticed that too. Still, better here than at a gym."

"Oh, obviously." The two nodded at her statement turning to watch the rest of the battles. It wouldn't be long before the maid reentered the room, carrying a tray with paper slips and declaring for everyone to grab one. As the assembled battlers went towards her to grab them, Louise's thoughts drifted back to her room. They had left the egg in there with her team and Derflinger, and she wondered exactly what they were doing now.

* * *

Derflinger and the rest of the Pokémon all sat in silence on the twin beds, watching a nature documentary on the TV before them. Espirit had the egg nestled next to her, Brennaraki curling next to it to provide warmth while the others simply sat in silence.

" _The Caterpie is foraging for food across the Viridian Forest floor_ ," a calm voice narrated the scene before them. " _It must take care to avoid any and all predators, lest he potentially come to harm._ "

"You know, I've met a few Caterpie. Interesting species, that one," Derflinger noted. "Don't tend to live very long in the wild, though. They just hatch, evolve, breed, then die."

' _Really? Sounds dreadful,_ ' Espirit noted with a sad tone.

" _What about trained ones?_ " Brennaraki asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh, they live much longer. Even in the wild, a trained Butterfree can live up to ten years. Still, Butterfree don't have the longest lifespans anyway. They don't live much longer than that."

" _Hmm…_ " Brennaraki hummed to herself while they turned their attention back towards the screen. " _Aile, you lived in the wild. Ever come across a Caterpie?_ "

" _A few times, actually_ ," Aile revealed. " _And before you ask, no. I did not ever eat a Caterpie. For one, they're way to big for me, and two…_ "

She was interrupted by a Pinsir arriving on the screen, roaring at the Caterpie.

" _Now a Pinsir has arrived. The Caterpie had wandered into its territory, and now the Pinsir is defending it from any and all intruders._ " They watched with baited breath as the large beetle leapt towards the Caterpie, only for a large string of thick webbing to erupt from its mouth and encase the Pinsir in a cocoon. The Caterpie then curled its body upwards, hoisting the Pinsir high into the air and crashing it into the ground headfirst, knocking it unconscious. Satisfied, the Caterpie continued on its merry way, leaving behind the Pinsir's twitching body. " _However, the Pinsir's attack was no match for the humble Caterpie's webbing._ "

" _That_ ," Aile declared while everyone else watched in absolute shock. A snort then filled the air, and everyone looked to see Espirit struggling to keep her laugh contained.

' _I'm sorry, it's just…_ ' Espirit laughed again, unable to hid her snorting laughter. ' _Who would expect_ that _?'_

Everyone stared at her before, one by one, they too joined in on the laughter.

* * *

Louise watched Saito as he prepared for his latest battle. This current round had been declared to be a double battle, and as such he'd been ruminating over which pair to use. In the end, he decided on Tengu and Maindo, and although she could not understand exactly what the two were saying to each other, she really wished that she could.

' _React, damn you!'_

Tengu merely stared at Maindo blankly before shrugging.

' _AAGH!'_

Although from the way Maindo was reacting, he had been attempting to rile up the Seedot as soon as they both entered the field. In contrast to all of his other attempts with the others, Tengu succinctly ignored all of his barbs, rude asides and mean-spirited comments with her patented uncaring attitude. Maindo himself got angrier and angrier the more she ignored it, to the point where he was actually willingly participating in the battles just to get a reaction out of her.

So far, that didn't seem to be working either.

"I say, that Ralts has quite the mean streak to him," Wikstrom noted as he watched Maindo mercilessly beat down a Zubat while Tengu used Nature Power on its Sandshrew teammate.

Louise nodded. "Yeah, Maindo…takes some getting used to. He's been like this ever since Saito caught him, although my guess is that he'd been like this before."

"Yes, his behavior does seem to be borne out of practice." Wikstrom hummed to himself. "Tell me, what steps have been taken to try and alleviate this behavior?"

"We've tried everything." Louise sighed. "So far, nothing seems to work. We've tried rewards, he throws them away. We try punishment, he simply laughs it off. Tengu ignoring him only seems to rile him up even more."

"Hmmm, yes. That does seem like it would be a hassle." Wikstrom narrowed his eyes at the Pokémon in question. "How did Sir Saito come across him, again?"

"Maindo attacked him in Lumiose inside an alleyway. Saito beat him off and decided to add him to his team." Louise sighed once more. "He's been a complete dog ever since."

Wikstrom furrowed his brow and frowned. "You both need to find a way to curb this destructive behavior of his, lest it continue unabated and lead to disaster. I suspect he is doing it on purpose, but why I do not pretend to know."

"Yeah, we've started to figure that as well." Louise sighed and continued to watch Saito's battles. He was doing quite well for himself, with far more wins than losses. As she did, she couldn't help but glance at the Elite Four trainer next to her and think.

"Sir Wikstrom?" she asked, grabbing his attention.

"Yes, Lady Louise?"

"Well, I was hoping you could answer something for me."

"Go right ahead." Wikstrom smiled, and Louise straightened herself before turning back to look at the combatants.

"What do you think about the Battle Chateau and the ranking system it uses?" she asked, hoping to hear an actual Kalosian Nobleman give his thoughts about what she still believed to be a devaluation.

"What an odd question," he admitted before shrugging. "Well, in my humble opinion, I find the rankings to be delightful." Wikstrom's answer through Louise through a loop. That was not the answer she was expecting.

"You do? I would have thought that…?"

"What, that because I'm the head of a noble house that I'd be offended?" Wikstrom asked with an amused look on his face. He shook his head. "No, I don't find any offense on the practices here. This is all in good fun, a way for people to play dress up and enjoy themselves with the heat of battle. That is much more important than any noble title."

"You act as though nobility doesn't matter?" Louise asked.

"Lady Louise, in my humble opinion, the idea of nobility, that a person is greater simply because of who sired them, is in actuality a demeaning concept. It removes agency from a person, implies that what truly matters to an individual is who they came from, not who they themselves are. What truly matters in this world is not how one was born, but what one does with the gift of life. That is something far grander than any title."

Wikstrom paused to look down at Louise and smiled. "To me, Louise, it is far grander to act noble than to be a noble. Being a noble is only afforded to a select few who had the luck of birth, while anyone can act noble. Kindness, generosity, heroism, valor and honor, those are traits anyone can possess. From the lowest pauper to the highest king, anyone can be noble. I think of the Battle Chateau and its ranking system as acting out this pursuit of nobility, that through the glory of battle a person's nobility can be brought forth. By allowing everyone to participate, it shows that anyone truly can be noble.

"I think that is a much greater thing, don't you?" Wikstrom asked and finished speaking.

Louise paused at Wikstrom's words, running them over in her mind, before nodding in understanding. She could see where he came from, and the idea that one's actions determined their worth and not their title was a comforting one to the girl who had to cling to her name as her only lifeline. That didn't mean she was ready to abandon what she firmly believed to be right, but she could at least respect his opinion.

"I see. Thank you for sharing this." She smiled, and Wikstrom did in turn.

"It is no problem at all." With that, Wikstrom turned back to watch the battlers continue. The double battles had ended at this point, and after a moment to heal, the trainers partnered up and began their duels. Again, his eyes travelled to Saito, who now had swapped out Tengu to release Tanuki. The look on the Riolu's face was one of jubilation, joy, and utmost confidence in his abilities, and he could tell at the two had a strong relationship between them. His opponent was a Machop, and the two were beginning their spar.

As the fight continued, each of the Fighting-types trading blow after blow, his expression turned into a slight frown.

"Lady Louise?" he suddenly asked and catching her attention. "Tell me, how long has Sir Saito had that Riolu?"

"Tanuki? Well, he had him since Unova. Met him at a ranch, did some pranks together, and afterwards Tanuki decided to stick with him."

"I see." Wikstrom continued to watch Tanuki's fighting style, noting a distinctive lack of actual commands given by Saito, something he had been doing the entire time. "Do the two of you often not give commands in battle?"

"We do," Louise clarified, "but we've found that it is easier to simply train our Pokémon to fight on their own and merely give commands when absolutely necessary. Why, is that bad?"

"Not necessarily," Wikstrom explained. "While a Pokémon should typically trust in its trainer above all else, there may be situations where it's best for them to use their own judgement. Lady Korrina's experiences likely have her a bit biased in that regard." He turned his attention back to the battle. "Although...I do believe she is correct, in this instance. Sir Saito's Riolu is powerful and smart, but seems to hold himself above his trainer. In a Pokémon Battle, the trainer and Pokémon must respect each other as equals. Otherwise, it can only end in disaster."

"What do you mean? Saito and Tanuki get along great." Louise was confused and slightly offended on behalf of her friend, but Wikstrom merely held out his hand towards him.

"Watch. Notice how Tanuki fights, how he moves and studies his opponent." Louise did so, focusing in on the blue canine before shaking her head.

"Clearly he's showing how skilled he is. I don't see how that's a problem."

"The problem isn't that he's skilled. The problem is that he acts without taking into account his trainer." With wide eyes, Louise turned back to study the battle more closely. She saw Saito preparing to issue an order, only for Tanuki to act on his own before Saito could get the chance. The frustration was easily seen, but it disappeared shortly after. "See what I mean?"

Louise couldn't say a word as Tanuki quickly won the battle shortly after, the canine doing a short jump to celebrate. He and Saito then congratulated their opponents on a great battle before Saito returned his Pokémon and made his way back to Louise and Wikstrom, oblivious to the look the Elite Four trainer was giving.

"I think things are almost done for tonight," he noted with a smile. "Honestly, tonight's been a blast. You should have tried it, Louise. Gotten some training in."

"Yes, getting more training is always good," Wikstrom agreed before appearing to think to himself. "I say, dear boy, I just realized I haven't had a battle yet this evening."

"Really?" Saito asked in surprise. "I would have thought you've had some challengers by now."

"Alas, it appears as though my status proceeds me. Tis a shame, really. I was really hoping for some quality battles this evening."

"…Yeah, I can see how that would be disappointing." Saito nodded while a sinking feeling slowly built in Louise's stomach. That feeling only increased when a look suddenly crossed Saito's face, and before she could act he looked back up at the Elite Four trainer. "If you want, you and I could have a go."

Wikstrom looked down at Saito, appearing to contemplate his offer, before smiling and nodding in agreement.

"That sounds splendid!" he boisterously declared. "I humbly accept your battle invitation, Sir Saito!"

Saito smiled while all the other participants turned and gawked at the challenge, surprised that the rookie trainer would do so. Louise knew that, in Saito's mind, this was nothing more than a friendly spar, keeping up with the spirit of this institution. She also knew that was not the case in Wikstrom's mind, that he was doing this not to have fun but rather to impart a lesson on her friend.

She could only hope that his reasoning would prove to be unfounded.

* * *

As it turned out, the prospect of witnessing an actual member of the Elite Four battle someone, even if that person was a rookie, was enough to effectively end the night's battle session. Everyone from across the Battle Chateau had heard about the challenge and had gathered around to spectate, forcing Wikstrom and Saito to move to an arena on the river. Most of the spectators were on the ground level, while Louise herself was on a balcony overlooking everyone. She could see Saito and Wikstrom standing across from each other on the circular slab, and while Saito appeared to be excited, Louise couldn't help but feel nervous

"Combatants, this will be a one on one battle. Victory will be granted by knock out or ring out. You may begin when ready," a maid announced, assuming the role of referee. Both Wikstrom and Saito nodded, and the boy moved pull out a Pokémon, only for Wikstrom to hold up his hand.

"Sir Saito, my boy, do you mind if I make a request?" the older trainer asked.

"Sure, go right ahead."

"Thank you. I couldn't help but notice you happen to have a Riolu as part of your team. Well, I just so happen to have on me a Lucario. What would you say to us having them face off against each other?"

"Sure! Tanuki would love that!" Saito exclaimed while pulling out Tanuki's Pokéball. Wikstrom did the same with his Lucario's, and Louise's worry grew.

"Go, Tanuki!"

"Go, Lucario!"

Wikstrom and Saito shouted as their Pokéballs were thrown. The balls exploded, revealing Tanuki and his larger evolution. Louise recognized the Lucario slightly from her experience at the Daycare. One of them had been assisting Flare, but she wasn't able to get a chance to really study it. Too much was going on, but now that things were calm, she was award an opportunity to do so.

The resemblance to a Riolu was easily seen. Honestly, the biggest difference was simply how much bigger it got. The snout was more pronounced, the white bulbs on its pals had turned into spikes, and its torso was now covered in yellow fur. Two more black extensions joined the two it must have had as a Riolu, only now moved to the back of its head. The ears and tail was also much larger. Taking all of this into account, Louise then produced her Pokédex from a small bag attached to the back of her dress and activated the scanning function, pointing it down at the Lucario.

" _Lucario, the Aura Pokémon. Lucario is the evolved form of Riolu, and members of its species are widely considered to be among the greatest fighters of the Pokémon world. Its mastery of Aura is unparalleled, capable of both sensing the Aura from living creatures as well as utilizing it in combat. Lucarios as a whole have a instinctual deposition to justice,_ " the Pokédex revealed while Louise hummed to herself. It revealed that Wikstrom's Lucario was male, and that the evolution gave it an added Steel-typing. Should she come to fight a Lucario in the future, she would have to take that into account. Putting away her Pokédex, Louise turned her attention to battle below.

"Tanuki, start things off with Quick Attack!" Saito ordered. Tanuki grinned and disappeared into a blur, racing towards his opponent. To Saito's confusion, Lucario merely closed his eyes, the bulbs on the back of its head extending outward before he suddenly thrust out his paw and caught Tanuki's extended foot.

"Power Up Punch!" Wikstrom ordered. At cone, Lucario's fist glowed and thrown straight into Tanuki's gut, launching the Riolu back across the arena.

"Quick Guard!" Wikstrom followed up with another order just as Tanuki began picking himself off the ground. Closing his eyes, Lucario thrust his palms outwards as a red glow began to appear in front of him. For a moment, Lucario began to slightly float, only for the red light to erupt and cover his entire body in a red sheen. Lucario descended back to the ground, while Tanuki narrowed his eyes at his opponent.

"What does…" Saito wondered, only for Tanuki to suddenly use Quick Attack once again. "Tanuki, wait!"

If Tanuki heard him, it didn't amount to anything as the red aura surrounding Lucario suddenly expanded and enveloped Tanuki, slowing him down to his normal speed. Caught off guard, he was helpless as Wikstrom ordered Lucario to attack him with Aura Sphere, the ball of concentrated Aura slamming into his side and flipping him head over foot.

"Grrgh," Saito grunted as he tried to figure out a way around this. It was obvious to him now that the Quick Guard protected Lucario from moves like Quick Attack, something he had suspected but was unable to tell Tanuki before he acted on his own. That meant that one of his preferred moves was now off the table, which meant they had to adjust accordingly.

"Tanuki, Copycat!" Saito ordered, and Tanuki nodded. His eyes flashed gold before he copied Lucario's motions, creating a small sphere of concentrated aura in his hands then shooting it towards Lucario. Knowing that it was no point to try and dodge the tracking Aura Sphere, Lucario crossed his arms to shield himself. They took the force of the Aura sphere, obscuring him in a cloud of dust. Taking his chance, Tanuki ran towards Lucario, his arms thrust backwards and his body leaning forwards.

"Force Palm!" Saito commanded, and Tanuki leaped into the air with his paw glowing in a bright blue light. He moved to bring it down on Lucario's head just as the dust began to settle.

"Counter!" As soon as Wikstrom's command shouted out, and a red glow began to cover Lucario's body, Tanuki halted his attack and used Quick Attack away from any retaliation. He didn't go far before the red glow slowed him down, but it was enough to move away. Flipping in the air, Tanuki bounced off the ground and lunged for Lucario, his fist concealed and ready to strike just as the red glow subsided. Once it did, he used another Force Palm on Lucario's face. To his surprise, the attack barely seemed to faze the larger Pokémon, and before he could react Lucario grabbed his arm and slammed him onto the ground. As he did, the red glow surrounding Lucario faded, and at once Tanuki realized that the Quick Guard had subsided. With other burst of Quick Attack, Tanuki zipped away from Lucario's downward foot, stopping himself with a three-point pose.

"Your Riolu is very skilled," Wikstrom complimented his opponent. Saito nodded, but before he could speak again Tanuki used yet another Quick Attack to close the gap on Lucario. "Bone Rush!" Wikstrom quickly got out. Heeding his trainer's command, Lucario concentrated his aura into a thick bone and grabbed hold of it. He then expanded the bone into a large staff, with which he used to block all of Tanuki's furious attacks.

"Tanuki, get out of there!" Saito shouted, but Tanuki didn't listen. His paws ignited with Meteor Mash as he threw blow after blow at the Lucario, only for each attack to be effortlessly deflected by the bone staff. Seeing this, Tanuki moved to try another tactic, moving himself around the staff to attack the legs with a mixture of Force Palm and standard punches and kicks whenever he could find an opening.

"Tanuki, Screech!" Saito ordered as Lucario swung his staff downward. Tanuki did as instructed, screeching loudly, the pitch high enough to force everyone around to cover their ears to block out the pain. Lucario merely grunted and continued his swing, slamming his bone staff into Tanuki's gut and knocking the wind out of him. Tanuki slammed into the ground, and as he tried to pick himself up, Wikstrom shook his head.

He sighed and looked at Lucario. "Lucario, finish this. Extreme Speed."

Lucario practically vanished before reappearing right behind Tanuki, delivering an aura-enhanced kick to the Riolu's back. The blow sent Tanuki flying, and as he soared he soared Lucario closed on him.

"Tanuki, use-!" Saito shouted, preparing to command his Pokémon to use Counter at the last second, only for Tanuki to use Quick Attack in an attempt to get out of the way once more. As he did, Wikstrom shook his head and sighed once more.

"Bone Rush." Lucario nodded and gripped his bone staff tightly. He swung it in a wide arc, using his aura sensing to determine exactly where Tanuki would reappear and struck him across his back. Not letting up, Lucario lunged at Tanuki, striking him with the end of his staff repeatedly across his face, chest, and stomach, before finally Saito had enough.

"Enough! We give!" Saito shouted, and at once Lucario ceased his attack and withdrawing from the battle. He leapt back towards Wikstrom gracefully, his bone staff dissipated in the process while Saito ran towards his hurt Pokémon. Tanuki was still conscious, although greatly disappointed at his loss.

"Here," Wikstrom said as he handed Saito a bottle of Full Restore. Gratefully taking it, Saito applied it to his Pokémon. Together, they stood up and faced Wikstrom and Lucario, then extended their arms to their respective opponents.

"Thank you for the battle, Wikstrom. Have to admit, it went better than I expected," Saito admitted while shaking Wikstrom's hand.

"That so? How?" Wikstrom asked, clearly amused by the response.

"We lasted about twice as long as I thought we would." Saito laughed, and Wikstrom couldn't help but laugh alongside him.

"My, that's quite a way to take a loss!" he boisterously proclaimed as the spectators politely applauded both of them. His face then adopted one much more serious, something Saito and Tanuki both took notice of. "I would like to speak with you and your Pokémon. In private."

"Oh, uh… Okay," Saito said as he followed Wikstrom passed the splitting crowd and into the chateau. Together they walked towards the study of the mansion. Wikstrom opened the doors for them both, directing them to sit down on a large sofa. He then closed the door and walked towards a large fireplace, staring into its flame.

"Saito," he started with utmost seriousness, "what would you say caused you to lose that battle against me?" Saito looked confused as he glanced down at Tanuki to see his Riolu looked the same, then looked back up at the Elite Four trainer.

"Um, obviously because you were stronger than us. You've had years of training to hone your Lucario's strength, your own tactics and strategies. I knew going into it that I was going to lose," Saito admitted, only for Wikstrom to shake his head.

"While that is true, that is not why you lost." He then turned back to face Saito and Tanuki. "You lost not because of me, but because of the cracked relationship between you and Tanuki."

At this statement, Saito and Tanuki both looked aback, confused as to why he would say that their relationship was cracked.

"Forgive me, sir, but I thoroughly disagree with that," Saito insisted. Tanuki, for his part, looked absolutely offended. "Tanuki and I get along great. Sure, he does his own stuff from time to time, but…"

"That is exactly the problem," Wikstrom cut in. Before Saito could object, Wikstrom held out his hand. "I am not saying that you are training your Pokémon incorrectly. I meant it when I said that your Pokémon were well trained. Tanuki's skill is commendable. What is not is neither of you recognizing the frays at the edges, something that if not corrected will shatter the friendship you hold between each other."

If before Saito and Tanuki looked offended, now they simply looked concerned.

"What are you talking about?" Saito asked.

"It's so small that only an experienced trainer, such as myself, would be able to recognize it. But, I cannot deny that it is there, and I cannot forgive myself if I don't bring it to your attention." Wikstrom shook his head then sat down on a cushioned chair, opposite of Saito.

"Several times during this evening's battles, I watched you and your Pokémon fight against your opponents. Your Oshawatt, which I am assuming to be your starter, seems to have little to no issues, and I am more than aware that you know the issues surrounding your Ralts." Saito groaned at Wikstrom's statement, but allowed the trainer to continue. "But Tanuki here has a tendency to act out on his own rather frequently."

"Yeah but… Tanuki's always done that, and more often than not, the choices he makes prove to be for the better."

"And I commend him for that. Having a Pokémon be able to be self-reliant in battle is an important and impressive skill, one that I am happy is getting more and more popular in Kalos these days. Rather, it is the amount that he acts on his own that concerns me. In our battle alone, I counted four times that Tanuki acted without even waiting to hear your input. _That_ is what concerns me."

Saito and Tanuki were both looking at him intently, and Wikstrom took their silence as a affirmation to continue. He then looked directly at the Riolu, and sighed.

"Tanuki, I'm afraid that you don't fully respect your own trainer." At Wikstrom's words, Tanuki shot up to his feet, clearly angry at the suggestion, while Saito remained still with shock.

' _The hell I don't!_ ' he growled, knowing that Wikstrom wouldn't be able to understand him but wanting to say it anyway.

"I take that as a "yes I do". Let me clarify my statement. I don't believe that it is consciously done. Rather, I want you to look deep inside yourself and ask "do I see myself as superior than my trainer". Can you do that for me?"

Tanuki wanted nothing more than to angrily shake his head, but a hurt look on Saito's face caused him to sigh and do as asked, if only to convince the trainer he was wrong. Tanuki closed his eyes and concentrated, remembering all the times that he and Saito had fought together ever since they first met, all their interactions. He also remembered his thought processes when he was in actual battles, how he found some of Saito's strategies to be novel, how he would sometimes spot things he didn't, the frustration at not playing to his strengths at times, how he sometimes just didn't seem to…

Tanuki stopped thinking and looked up at Saito in complete surprise then back at Wikstrom. To his complete and utter horror, he realized something he had long not wanted to admit.

Wikstrom was right.

The Elite Four trainer shook his head and sighed.

"Just as I feared." Seeing both Saito and Tanuki looking at him for guidance, Wikstrom smiled faintly. "Don't be alarmed. The problem is not that large, more just something that was in its early stages. I've seen it before, and so long as you work on it, learn to better understand how important the relationship between trainer and Pokémon truly is, you can and will surpass it. Trainers are not like coaches for a sports team, or even a general commanding his troops. He is a partner, a teacher to his Pokémon to see things about the world and themselves that they would not normally see. At the same time, a Pokémon is more than a subordinate or pet, he is a partner and lifelong friend. Trainers and Pokémon are equal to each other in their relationship. One cannot succeed fully without the other. Do you understand?"

"I…yeah, I do," Saito admitted with a sigh. Out of all the Pokémon he had, he would not have expected to hear that Tanuki didn't fully respect him. Maindo, sure, but not Tanuki. The only thing that made him not feel betrayed was the sheer fact that not even Tanuki realized it.

"Good." Wikstrom then stood up and walked to the door. "Well, I'm afraid that it is late. For a pair of gym challengers such as yourself and Lady Louise, I would say that a good night's sleep is important."

"Yeah, you're right," Saito admitted as he and Tanuki got off the sofa and walked towards the now opened stores. "Wikstrom?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for the battle…and the advice."

"It is not problem at all, Sir Saito." Wikstrom smiled, and Saito and Tanuki nodded back at him. Together, the two walked back towards their room in silent contemplation, each thinking just how to move past this unexpected hurdle in their relationship. Neither of them had come up with an answer by the time when they met up with Louise in their room.

"Everything okay?" she asked in concern, but Saito shook his head.

"Yeah, we're fine. Just…things to think about. I'll tell you in the morning." Saito softly smiled, and Louise backed off. Nodding her head, she walked into a nearby bathroom and changed into her pajamas, quickly, allowing Saito to do the same. Climbing into their separate beds, they bid each other good night and allowed sleep to overcome them.

* * *

Elizabeth gazed out the window and sighed. She had been stuck in the hospital for the past week and, with nothing to do apart from talking to her parents during their frequent visits, she could feel the boredom eating away at her mind. If she had been allowed to see her team, the past week might not have been so bad. However, her parents had barred her from seeing them, saying that the excitement might slow her recovery.

The heiress grit her teeth at the memory. The last time her parents had been this protective of her was nine years ago, and the similarities between then and now just seemed to multiply the more she thought about it.

She hadn't really thought about it back then, but her parents had been uncharacteristically protective of her after her trip to the ruins. Her little nine-year-old self just couldn't feel anything but joy that her parents were spending time with her and comforting her every time she woke up screaming from another nightmare. She had been so happy back then the she tabled her plans of entering the Pokémon League on her tenth birthday, fully believing that her parents had changed from the distant people they were before.

It didn't last, and it was probably never meant to. By her eleventh birthday, her parents had returned to the people they were before. Once again, they were more concerned with their business or their social life than their own daughter. The change was slow enough that Elizabeth hadn't noticed it at the time, but the prior year of closeness gave it a much more insidious effect.

Before she knew it, Elizabeth Colette, only daughter of Wilbur and Janice Colette, had fallen hook, line, and sinker for her parents' empty lifestyle. Funny how being cut off from everything and being drawn into a terrorist attack finally let it sink in.

Elizabeth grit her teeth in barely-restrained rage, her fists clenched so tightly she nearly drew blood. Looking back, she had surrounded herself with worthless friends who cared more about who her parents were than who she actually was. She had started collecting in earnest around that time, reducing her lifelong dream to nothing more than a passionless hobby. Her family's standing had allowed the verdette to get her way almost all the time. In fact, Fennekin–or Brennaraki, she supposed–was the first Pokémon whose owner had the integrity to deny her.

A jolt of pain went through Elizabeth's hand as her nails drew blood. The verdette paused to clear her head, forcing all the anger and self-loathing down into the roiling mass that had been steadily growing since she first woke up in the hospital.

All Elizabeth wanted was to rest. She still had six hours before she was due to be released, whereupon her parents would probably offer to reinstate her allowance if she chose to stay. She would probably even accept, and then make good on her promise to Gengar. Machamp, Zorua, and even Eevee deserved better than someone like her. Someone who would keep them safe, not lead them to their deaths.

Elizabeth's phone began to ring, playing a high-energy saxophone and guitar duet she was certain she hadn't set as her ringtone. She picked it up, and her eyes widened. While she didn't recognize the number, she would have had to be living under a rock to not know that name listed on the caller ID.

"H-hello," she said, hesitantly answering the phone.

"Hello, Miss Colette," the man on the other end of the phone said, "My name is Donatello Versus. I know that you are still in the hospital, so I can call back later if this is a bad time."

"Oh! No, It isn't."

"In that case, I have an offer for you."

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here's the latest chapter of Outsiders! Sorry for the delay. Thanksgiving, you know. Kind of lost a week there.

In any case, here is the latest chapter. We got some nice battles in, Louise got some good interactions with Wikstrom, along with some much needed different perspective that she can actually respect, as did Saito.

Onto the Q&A:

 **Guest** : Thank you! I'm glad you are enjoying this story. And yes, this story does not need Ash in order to function. He exists, of course. After all, this takes place in the anime world. But, he will not be a major focus of this story at all.

 **Drewd00d** : Yeah, there really isn't any need to do chapters on stuff we've already covered. By avoiding those, it allows us to get to the more important stuff as well as speed things along. We don't really like filler chapters all that much, unless we can use it to further explore our characters. Every chapter has to have a purpose.

Louise mimicking what she sees on TV is both a very cute character moment for her as well as a good way to show how Earth is changing her. Glad to see that it came off well. At the same time, her being irked by the Battle Chateau serves to show that this is still Louise, and she would not particularly appreciate the appropriation of nobility. Still, her conversation with Wikstrom did allow her to see it in a slightly different light.

Yep, Saito's newest Pokémon is Tengu. Her theme is, as you said, low effort and simply going with the flow. Saito in canon kind of did that in regards to his entire situation. Granted, that was in part because of the runes preventing feelings of homesickness from coming in, but that doesn't apply to this story. Still, Tengu represents the laid-backness and not letting things get to him of Saito's character, and we look forward to further interactions with her.

 **Engineer4Ever** : Yep, Louise and Wikstrom did get along. In fact, that conversation he had with her was important for her character growth.

 **Sakura** **Lisel** : That will not be happening. I don't like the idea of using fanmade regions or Pokémon in stories, and the same views extend towards the Beta Pokémon. We don't know anything about them, and there are over 600 Pokémon in series. There's more than enough for us to use in our story.

That's it for this week. We hope you all enjoy!


	36. Season 1, Episode 8, Chapter 4

Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)

Season 1, Episode 8, Chapter 4

[~][~]

"Oh! Elizabeth! It's so good to see you're okay!" Elizabeth flinched as her mother swept her into a hug. Her talk with Versus had only taken the better part of two hours, but the rest of her stay at the hospital had flown by in comparison. The verdette had been in a pretty good mood up until this point.

Somehow, just laying eyes on her parents had caused that beast of rage and loathing to rear its ugly head again.

"What are you two waiting for?" Elizabeth's father said, "Come on, let's get in the car."

"Of course, dear," her mother replied with a smile. Taking her hand, the two walked towards the limo, where a man opened the door for them and granted them entry. As they neared, Elizabeth frowned as she didn't recognize the driver.

"Oh, Elizabeth!" her mother exclaimed in shock, "Where'd you get this scar? And why did you tan your skin again? Haven't I told you not to do that?"

"The Gallade slashed me across the face, Mother," Elizabeth answered slowly, looking out the window, "As for the tan? People kept saying I looked like you." As her mother gasped, she couldn't help but let out a small smile.

"Elizabeth!" her father snapped. "Apologize to your mother immediately!"

When Elizabeth elected to say nothing, her father only grew angrier. Seeing that filled her with satisfaction.

"I know you had that scar when you were checked into the hospital, young lady," he revealed, "So tell me, where did you get it!"

"I heal quickly, Father," Elizabeth stated, keeping her voice almost monotone, "I have for the past nine years."

"Elizabeth!"

The verdette sighed, "Sir? Stop the car, please."

The car stopped immediately, pulling next to the curb and allowing the heiress to climb out, much to the shock of her parents.

"Elizabeth!" her father snapped. "Get back in the car this instant!"

"No."

"Elizabeth," Mrs. Colette said, using a much softer tone than her husband, "please get back in the car. We were considering reinstating your allowance."

"I would have refused," Elizabeth interjected, struggling to keep her voice level despite the boiling rage she felt. She knew what they were doing. They were trying to butter her up again, make her feel welcome while pulling her into their shallow lifestyle. It would last for a time, and she'd feel like she was happy, only for them to rip it away and go back to normal. She wasn't about to let that happen again, not when she had something much more important to strive for.

"Let me talk to her, honey," her father said, opening the door, only for Elizabeth to slam it closed in his face. He was lucky his hands were free, given the sizable dent in the metal she produced.

"Enough with the charade," she declared, her steely tone belying her growing rage, "This trick you're pulling? This whole song and dance you've been doing my whole life? It's over. I am done letting you dictate how my life will go. You don't have control anymore."

Elizabeth walked away, shaking her throbbing hand as she went. The roiling mass in her chest had kicked itself up into a hurricane. Behind her, she heard her father get out of the car, likely furious, but she didn't seem to care in the slightest.

"Elizabeth! Get back here! That is not behavior fitting of the heiress to the Colette estate!"

Elizabeth stopped but didn't turn around. "I don't care. Disown me, have another child, I don't care anymore. Do what you what."

"Where are you going to go, then?" her father shot back, half expecting, half hoping she would turn around. Instead, all she did was continue to walk away.

"If you had been paying any attention to what I had been doing, you would have known about my entry into the local PWE league. Donatello Versus has personally arranged my first match," Elizabeth allowed herself to smile. "If you'll excuse me, I have a bus to catch."

* * *

Try as he might, it was hard for Saito to fall asleep that night. Wikstrom's advice on his fracturing relationship with Tanuki struck him to his core, and it was hard for him to find the peace of mind to drift off finally. Eventually, his body just got tired enough to where a restless sleep came in on its own. He and Louise awoke at dawn, and after preparing themselves and packing their supplies, they bid the Battle Chateau farewell and set off again for Connecting Cave.

"How much further are we?" Saito asked Louise as they sat underneath a large tree, granting them shelter from the sweltering noon sun. Their Pokémon were about, training by themselves or merely resting on the tree.

"Just a few hours," Louise revealed as she ate her sandwich. Gulping it down, she turned her head to look at Saito. "How are you holding up?"

"Well, all things considered," Saito sighed.

"Still thinking about what Wikstrom said?"

"Yeah, as much as I don't want to," he sighed again, "Still, at least I know about it."

"Yes, that is true," Louise smiled and nodded, "Lord Thyméo certainly deserves the respect afforded by his station."

"Didn't you tell me that he felt the entire nobility institution was demeaning?" Derflinger spoke up.

"Yes, he did. But he carried himself in such a way, not to mention all that he's accomplished, that I could respect his opinion," Louise clarified with an outstretched finger. "Had someone like Princess Allie or some random shopkeeper told me that, I would have dismissed it outright."

"At least you admit it," Derflinger chuckled, but Louise shook her head.

"I'm not blind to the faults of the nobility, Derflinger. Especially not anymore. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to abandon it outright." A noticeable edge was in Louise's voice, and as he wiped away some drool from the corner of his mouth, Saito decided it was time to intervene before it got too heated.

"Well, I say that we should get some training in before moving on again. Training is a lot easier in the open air than inside a cave," he said as he rose to his feet. Taking the cue, Louise and Derflinger rose as well, Louise taking the time to stretch.

"Is cave-diving that bad?" Louise questioned while agreeing with the logic.

"It can be." Derflinger nodded, "When we get in there, stay close to one another. And keep those flashlight things on at all times. The last thing we need is for one of us to trip and fall."

"Don't need to remind me twice," Saito stated as he began to walk off, waving back to Louise as he gathered his Pokémon around him. "Be back in a bit!"

"Got it!" Louise yelled back as she gathered her Pokémon as well. Seeing that Derflinger was still with her, she groaned while pulling out an assortment of supplies. "If you're going to stay here, please don't…be yourself."

Derflinger paused and tilted his body to the side. "What does that mean?"

"You know what it means."

* * *

Saito and Tanuki sat calmly across from each other, Saito on the grass and Tanuki on a rock. Their eyes were level, and they stared intensely into the other. Silence surrounded both of them as they tried to probe deeply into the other's mind. Occasionally, Tanuki would let out pulses of aura, allowing his feelings to expand outward and grant Saito a brief window into the canine's soul. At first, the sensations had been confusing and difficult to read, but he was getting the hang of it by now.

Shame was the most significant emotion he was feeling from Tanuki. The Riolu was ashamed at feeling even a little bit superior to Saito. Likewise, Saito couldn't help but feel a twinge of betrayal, but thankfully not much. Deeper down, despite Tanuki's attempts to defeat it, the boy could also feel the root of his feelings. From what he could tell, Tanuki felt that Saito's decisions were distant from the actual fight. Since it was Tanuki who was fighting, he thought that trying to sit back and let Saito decide was foolhardy, at best.

Therein lay the problem. Simply put, Tanuki sometimes felt Saito didn't know what he was talking about, and given his already wild nature, it made him think that it was best to act first rather than wait for a potentially incorrect command.

"I think I see now," Saito stated while nodding. He could see that Tanuki's shame was still across his snout, and with a smile, Saito patted the Riolu's head. "Don't worry. We'll get past this. But changes will have to be made."

Tanuki perked up at this, tilting his head to the side, and Saito couldn't help but chuckle at the cute sight.

"From now on, buddy, we're going to work on training together. You teach me how to fight, and I'll teach you how what goes through my head. Okay?" Saito stuck out his hand, and after a moment, Tanuki smiled, grasped it with his paw, and shook it.

* * *

From across the small field, Louise watched Saito train with his Pokémon. Ronin and Tanuki were taking the time to help Saito with his training, while Maindo continued to try and rile Tengu to no avail. It was honestly an amusing sight to here, albeit one that was a little concerning. Humans were weaker than Pokémon in nearly every aspect, so Saito training directly with his Pokémon put him in greater danger. Still, she was confident that Ronin and Tanuki would be able to hold themselves back enough to avoid that.

Which brought her to where she was now. Just like Saito was working on improving his combat abilities in the wake of Team Flare, it was time for her to do the same.

"Fireball!" she cast, creating a small explosion that broke off a chunk of rock. The bits scattered, flying a short radius from the foundation and joining other pieces of rock from her previous blasts.

"Little bit off center," Derflinger observed from a safe distance. For once, rather than chafe at the sword's comments, Louise nodded. As much as he annoyed her, he was the person with the most knowledge about her Void magic, and if she wanted to improve what she could do, he was her best bet to do so.

"I noticed," she shook her head and cast again, causing another small explosion to ring out. This one shattered the rock completely, causing it to crumble into dust.

"Ugh…," she groaned and rubbed her forehead in frustration.

' _I'll get another one_ ,' Espirit noted as she began psychically searching for the right object for her trainer to practice on, and Louise nodded.

"Thank you, Espirit," Louise smiled at the Kirlia then sat down, holding out her wand and studying it intensely. Thinking back, what she was doing was kind of funny. Back home, the last thing Louise would be doing would be practicing on making her explosions better, instead focusing on casting actual spells. But now, here she was trying to make her blasts more controllable and efficient.

It was a combination of multiple things as to why she was changing her approach. Her time in Kalos, as with many other things, has caused her to look at her views a more differently. Knowing now that she was a Void Mage, Louise didn't see her explosions as proof of her failure as a mage. Instead, she saw them as proof of what she could do. The Mega-Beedrill encounter cemented that. Coupled with her own experience at the daycare, and how useful her explosions were at halting Team Flare's plans, Louise had decided that she should follow Saito's footsteps and work on improving her magic.

"Are you certain that you don't remember any actual Void spells?" she asked Derflinger as Espirit came back with a large, thick log.

"Sorry, but no," Derflinger replied with a check of his body, the sound of metal clattering announcing it, "Last time I heard an actual Void spell was about six thousand years ago. Even if I had heard one, I doubt I would have remembered the actual words because those spells were so bloody long. It's why Brimir had four familiars. It took over a minute to finish the chanting. There was no way I was going to memorize them."

"I figured," Louise sighed as she stood up and stretched. "Any chance that there is something that does have the spells in them?"

"Hmm, let's see…" Derflinger hummed to himself, "I think he kept most of his spells inside a book of some kind… a prayer book if I remember right."

"The Founder's Prayer Book? That's one of the holy artifacts of Tristain," Louise noted, wondering just why no one had ever read a Void spell in one of its pages. After a moment, the answer came to her. "Derflinger, how likely is it that he enchanted it?"

"Knowing him, very likely. Probably did it so that only a Void mage could read its contents, he was always a touch paranoid like that, but I don't know when Brimir did. Either after I got to Kalos, or when I was still with him but…"

"You forgot, right?" she asked, and Derflinger nodded. Nodding to herself, Louise focused on the log, aiming for its center mass. She wanted to punch a hole clean through its center, without breaking it into tiny flakes. She cast again, the log completely disintegrating from the force of her spell, and she kicked the dirt in frustration.

"You're putting way too much into it," the Honedge advised, "You need to focus on control first and foremost; you can have all the power in the world but without control or restraint, you will simply end up destroying yourself. Once you mastered control, then you can focus on powering it up."

Louise calmed herself down, then nodded. "Yeah, okay."

For the next hour, the process repeated itself. Saito would practice sparring and issuing orders with his Pokémon while Louise worked on her spells with hers. She managed to make some progress in her control, moving from completely shattering her targets in a single blow to merely lopping off chunks of it at a time, but it wasn't what she was hoping to achieve. Still, they had to continue on their way, and so the two trainers set off once more.

They hiked across Rivière Walk for several hours, occasionally sending out Aile to search among the berry trees and bushes they passed. The Fletchling was more than willing to partake in the endeavor, and the stains that marked her beak was more than enough evidence to that. The group only stopped once they finally reached the mouth of Connecting Cave, the sunlight stretching inside and illuminating its entryway.

"Here," Louise said as she handed Saito his cave-diving equipment.

"Thanks," Saito replied as she attached the equipment to his person. Then, the two of them inspected each other while releasing Espirit, Tanuki, and Maindo. Their extrasensory abilities would make traversing the cave that much more comfortable, not to mention safer. Seeing how they were ready. The two nodded at each other, then tentatively stepped into the black abyss.

"You guys be careful. While I can see just fine, I doubt any of you have night vision like mine," Derflinger warned as he hovered next to Saito and Louise. Indeed, with the exception of the Ghost-type, the group of them could only see about ten meters in any direction. Any further than that and the cave descended into darkness.

"Watch your step," Saito stated as they continued their way through the cave, making sure their steps were sound. Louise nodded and paused a moment to pull out her Pokédex.

"Let's see here," Louise hummed to herself as she activated her device's map function. An image of Connecting Cave, along with all of its intricate caverns and passageways, illuminated the screen, and the group huddled around her to see it. "Okay, looks like we are right…here." She pointed at their approximate location, not too far from the cave entrance.

"Right, and we need to get…here." Saito pointed at the cave exit on the southwest side. He frowned, seeing that the trek would involve passing through some narrow corridors, as well as one trek along a ledge. "We'll need to be careful here. Don't want to fall along that ledge."

' _Don't worry. Maindo and I will make sure the two of you don't fall_ ,' Espirit stated, and Maindo nodded with a huff. Tanuki, in turn, flashed a thumbs up as his eyes briefly flashed blue, and Saito nodded. He then reached into his backpack and pulled out a can of repel, handing it to Louise.

"Here," he said as Louise took the can and lightly sprayed herself. The Pokémon around her winced as they took a few steps back, and the rose-crown smiled apologetically.

"Sorry," she apologized to her Pokémon then put away her Pokédex. "Tanuki, do you think you can lead the way?"

"Yeah, just follow me!" he barked before confidently strutting forward, his eyes shining a faint blue. Pulses of aura illuminated the cave, and Tanuki sniffed the air along a series of corridors. A faint smell of salt drifted from one, and Tanuki yipped and walked forward towards it.

"Let's go, everyone!" Derflinger called out as he hovered after the Riolu, Saito, and Louise not far behind. "The sooner we get out of this cave, the better!"

"Agreed," Louise stated. As the group continued down the corridor, a loud cry echoed across the cave. A large, fluffy bat-like creature then flew into view. It hovered in front of them in curiosity, and the two trainers took the chance to scan it with their Pokédexes.

" _Woobat, the Bat Pokémon_ ," the devices stated. " _Woobats, like their distant Zubat cousins, are devoid of eyes. They navigate their natural environments by emitting ultrasonic waves from their nostrils; a process called echolocation. They can also use their nostrils to cling to walls and sleep."_

"Hmm, a Flying/Psychic-type," Louise observed as she read the details. "Saito, you want to have a go at it?"

"Hmm, no I don't think so. I only have one more space left on my team after the egg hatches, and I don't want to catch anything else until I know what the egg hatches into." He thrust his thumb towards the egg in question, securely held inside his backpack, and Louise nodded.

"Fair enough."

Its curiosity satiated, the Woobat flew off towards a nearby stalactite. As the Pokédex described, it latched onto its rocky surface with its nose like a suction cup, then drifted off to sleep. They couldn't help but notice a heart-shaped indentation next to it. They must have woken it up.

"We should be quiet. Don't want to wake up anyone else. They probably won't be so forgiving," Derflinger suggested, and his party all nodded. Maindo then noticed how the other Pokémon were all staring at him accusingly.

' _Really? You honestly think I would pull something in here?_ ' he asked, slightly offended.

' _Yes_ ,' Espirit answered immediately. Maindo grumbled about not being psychotic before walking away just as the group continued their trek.

* * *

As they descended further and further into the cave, they began to notice a marked change in the scenery. The landscape got rougher and more jagged, bits of rock and stone laid strewn across the ground, and noticeable chunks were missing altogether. Eventually, they came across a large mound of boulders, blocking off one of the available paths.

"This must have been the cave-in," Louise noted with a hum. The boulders were huge, each one taller than she was.

"Did that report say what caused it?" Saito asked, and Louise shrugged her shoulders.

"Investigators are still looking into it," Louise explained, "From what they can tell, possibly wildcat miners looking for fossils or Mega-Stones. One of them set off an explosive, which weakened the structural integrity of the cave and caused a cave-in. Luckily no one was injured."

"I hope they catch them," Saito scowled, knowing just how reckless using explosives were in a cave, and Louise nodded in agreement.

"Same here," a man suddenly announced himself, causing Saito and the others to jump in surprise and turn around sharply. They saw a young dark-skinned man wearing rock-climbing equipment inspecting the cave-in, a clipboard in his hand and a flashlight atop his hard hat. He turned and smiled at them, then went back to his work.

"Arceus, he scared the crap out of me…" Saito whispered while Louise shook herself out of her stupor.

"Hello, sir. I hope we aren't disturbing anything?" she asked, and the man shook his head.

"Not at all. Just doing some inspection work for the foreman while I'm here. Making sure there's no danger of another cave-in. The last thing anyone needs is for the ceiling to collapse while workers are moving the rocks out of the way."

"Yeah, that would be bad," Saito declared and offered out his hand, "I'm Saito, and this is Louise."

The man smiled and took Saito's hand into his own. "Grant. It's a pleasure to meet both of you." Grant stepped back and looked over the rock pile, ceiling, walls, and floors one more time, looking for cracks and structural weakness. As he did, he checked off a few boxes on his clipboard, then nodded.

"Onix, you're good. It's perfectly safe here." Before Louise could ask who Grant was talking to, the pile of boulders began to move with a load grind. She prepared to get herself, Saito, and Grant to safety, only for the stones to uncoil themselves and turn to face her with a massive snake-like head, a rocky horn on its top. While Louise gaped at the creature, Saito took out his Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon.

" _Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon. Onixes are Pokémon found deep beneath the Earth's crust. They eat rocks and other minerals to survive, and only occasionally come to surface to breed_ ," the Pokédex revealed.

"Wow, so that's an Onix," Saito declared as the rock snake looked him over, "I've never seen one this close before."

"Yes," Grant smiled. "Onix has been with me for many years now. She's been a great friend." He then turned to face Saito and Louise, eyeing the Pokédex curiously. "So, I couldn't help but notice the two of you have Pokédexes. You two taking on the Gyms?"

"We are, actually," Louise said as she shook herself out of her stupor. "We were supposed to go straight to Cyllage, but…you know."

"Yeah," Grant sighed and threw back his head. "My time has been taken up by this lately. Even if you had arrived, I wouldn't have been able to accept a challenge from the two of you anyway."

"I can ima—" Saito paused then turned to face Grant, "…Come again?"

Grant cocked his head at Saito, seeing that Louise was just as confused as her friend. His eyes then lit up in understanding, then laughed.

"I'm the Gym Leader of Cyllage City, actually," he revealed, "My Gym's been closed for the past week, dealing with the cave-in. Luckily, things should be cleared up pretty soon, probably within the next few days. Then I can get back to accepting challenges."

"Oh…I see," Louise nodded, slightly disappointed that she wouldn't be able to challenge him right away but understanding all the same, "Well, it was nice meeting you, Grant."

"You too, Louise," Grant smiled, then a thought came to him. "Say, where exactly are you two going?"

"We're going to Ambrette Town. The plan was to head there then head up north to face you, I suppose," Saito explained, and Grant chuckled.

"What a coincidence, I was actually about to head there myself," Grant stated then pulled out a yellow crystal, holding a large insect in its center, "While I was helping with the cave in, I managed to find this piece of amber in a pile of rocks. Apparently, the explosion had dislodged it from its resting place, allowing me to find it."

"Ooh," Louise and Saito looked deeply into the fossil as Grant carefully handed it over for them to look closer.

"There's a fossil museum in Ambrette Town. Foremost geology institute in the region. Even have a Fossil Restoration Device in there."

"A what?" Louise asked.

"A device developed in Oreburgh City that, among other things, allows for genetic information to be sequenced from fossils," Grant clarified, catching everyone's attention immediately, "With advancements in cloning technology from Dr. Fuji in the Kanto region, people were able to bring fossils back to life. I'm hoping that this amber will have enough DNA to do just that."

"Wow…" Saito stared, amazed at what the gem held within. "I remember when they first announced it. I was only seven when they showed the first Omanyte and Kabuto to the world. What do you think's in here?"

"Don't know," Grant said as he took the amber back from Saito's hands, "But, that's half the fun. Could be an Aerodactyl, maybe a Cranidos. Whatever happens, though, it will be welcome in my gym."

"That's good," Louise smiled, appreciating that he had a similar viewpoint to hers. She and Saito prepared to bid farewell, only for Grant's eyes to light up as an idea came into his head.

"If you two want, I can give you a lift on Onix," Grant suddenly offered, causing Saito and Louise recoil in slight shock.

"No, we couldn't," Louise started, not wanting to be a burden, but the gym leader waved off her concern.

"Nonsense. There's no reason not to. We're all going the same way, and there's more than enough room on Onix. Isn't that right, girl?" Grant asked his Pokémon while rubbing the side of her body, and the rock snake grunted in agreement.

Saito and Louise looked at each other, wondering what to do. On the one hand, they honestly did not want to be a burden on anyone, but what Grant was saying made sense. They were all going to the same place, and traveling by Onix would be faster than walking. Finally, with an accepting nod, Saito turned to smile at the gym leader.

"Thank you, Grant. We'd be more than happy to join you."

Grant clapped his hands together and smiled. "Great! Let me give my report to the foreman; then we can be on our way."

* * *

As it turned out, traveling with an experienced rock climber through a dark cave significantly shorten their travel time. What they expected to take half a day, at best, they managed to get out of Connecting Cave by sundown. Granted, it took them going over ledges and crevices and all sorts of other uncomfortable passageways, ones that they would have never considered otherwise, but with Grant helping them every step of the way, it was of no real issue.

That didn't mean Louise was keen to repeat the experience, but she was thankful nonetheless.

"Alright, boys! Let's get in there!" a large, mustached man named Mr. Stone barked at his workers, both human and Pokémon. Machamps, Conkledurrs, and Hariyamas walked into the cave, hoisting heavy equipment across their shoulders while their human coworkers shuffled in behind them. "Thanks, Grant. You saved my boys a lot of time."

"It's no problem at all," Grant said as he shook Mr. Stone's hand, "You guys stay safe, alright?"

"Don't worry. I ain't gonna let one of my boys get hurt." Mr. Stone nodded at the gym leader and the two trainers, then followed the rest of his men into the cave. Nodding at this, Grant hopped onto the back of his Onix, ushering Saito and Louise to join him.

"How soon should we get to Ambrette Town?" Louise asked as Grant pulled her up, Saito having climbed up himself.

"Not too long. About an hour or so," Grant answered then patted Onix's head, "Alright, girl. Let's get out of here."

Onix grunted in acceptance, then began to shift its body forward. Its stone body grounded against the dirt below, compacting it and shattering any rock that got in its way. Louise couldn't help but note how smooth everything was, but at the same time, it was rather slow. She guessed it was because they were still next to the cave entrance, and the path they were currently on was quite narrow.

"Okay, I think we're far enough now," Grant shouted as they rounded a corner, revealing that the route had indeed widened significantly, "Onix, use Rock Polish!"

Onix grunted, this its body shone and sharpened significantly. Her body became smooth to the touch, and a noticeable increase in speed occurred soon after. Dust clouds were forming behind them, and Louise internally groaned.

' _Great, they can make themselves faster. Going to have to account for that now…'_ Louise thought while focusing on what was to come. With the gym closed for at least a few more days, that meant just going straight to Cyllage from Ambrette was no longer an option. That said, she and Saito had to do something to occupy themselves. The fossil museum that Grant had mentioned did seem fun. At the same time, Glittering Cave also looked like it could be an interesting detour. Much of the fossils the museum studied came from it.

But she could decide what she was going to do tomorrow. Right now, getting to Ambrette Town was the priority. As the town came closer to view, the city lights brightening the night sky, a sense of calm flowed into her. A quick look showed that much of what she was thinking was undoubtedly going through Saito's head while he cared for the egg. Derflinger's attention, however, was elsewhere. He was staring off into the mountains, and Louise followed his gaze, only to see nothing. With a shrug, she turned her attention back forward.

Had she continued to look for just a little while longer, she might have noticed a white shape following after them.

* * *

"Professor, wait!" A female voice called out to him. Professor Augustine Sycamore couldn't help but frown. Here he was, trying to buy some food for dinner when someone decides to single him out. What's worse is that he recognized the voice, and it didn't belong to anyone he'd like to see.

"What is it, Miss Colette?" he asked, resigning himself to the inevitable confrontation. Much to his surprise, Elizabeth flinched at the hostility evident in his tone.

The verdette looked at her feet for a moment before rallying herself and meeting Sycamore's eyes. "I know that I've— That I've done some awful things to you in the past, and— And I don't have any right to ask this of you but..." she trailed off, taking a breath before pressing on, "I have a favor— Two favors I want to ask of you."

"What do you want," he said at length while she awkwardly smiled, pleasantly surprised at her apparent change in character. Elizabeth looked relieved at his response and quickly pulled two objects–a Pokéball and a folded sheet of paper–from her bag.

"I'd like for you to hold on to this for me," she said, offering the Pokéball to the Professor, "I don't trust my parents with it, but it's not something I'd feel comfortable having on my person. There are too many bad memories attached to it."

Sycamore took the Pokéball, more than a little curious as to what it contained. "And the other favor?"

"Oh!" she said, hastily handing over the paper, "I'd like you to send this to Louise, it would mean a lot to me if you did. Also, I don't know how to contact her myself."

Sycamore couldn't help but feel a little suspicious of the second request. "Do you mind if I take a look?"

"Not at all," Elizabeth replied after a beat. Rather than seem offended by the suspicion, she appeared not only understanding but expectant.

Sycamore unfolded the paper, and he was surprised by what he saw. It was a promotional poster for Under World's upcoming exposition match: Diego Brando versus an as-of-yet unnamed new trainer. However, this one differed from the ones he had back at the lab in one significant way: Diego's opponent wasn't a white silhouette. In its place was an artist's rendition of Elizabeth as she looked during her first real match against Louise. The artist had taken some liberties, though. The verdette's scar–which hadn't even been visible at the time–had been massively exaggerated, and her expression contorted into such a rictus of hate and rage that the professor felt that he might burst into flames if he looked at her too long.

"You're Donatello Versus' new trainer?" he asked incredulously. That last thing he would have expected of her was joining the PWE. Although, judging by the performance of her Machamp, that seemed to be more up his alley.

"Well, yeah, I guess…" Elizabeth said, fidgeting nervously, "I'm more surprised about how quickly they got the posters up. We only finished hashing out my contract five hours ago. I'm a little annoyed that I've been cast as a heel, but what can you do."

Sycamore raised his eyebrows in surprise. He had watched a few matches now and then, it was a dirty pleasure of his, but he wondered how much Elizabeth knew. "I know that Diego has three Pokémon that he uses for his matches. Which one are you up against?"

"Silver Bullet," she replied.

This time Sycamore couldn't contain his surprise. "Really? For your first match?"

Elizabeth smiled. "Versus didn't think that Ferdinand was a good matchup for Machamp thematically, and we can both agree that Elphelt tends to get carried away. It wouldn't do for Machamp to end his first match with several broken bones."

Elizabeth looked like she was going to say something else when a bus drove past.

"OH! That's my bus!" she exclaimed, "Sorry for leaving so suddenly, Professor, but I need to be on that bus if I want to make it to Cyllage in time for the expo!" Before Sycamore could speak up, Elizabeth turned and ran off after the bus. It stopped, allowing her to step on board, then it drove off again.

Sycamore smiled, despite himself, as he watched the verdette runoff. Turning his attention back to the poster, he nodded then finished selecting what he was going to eat that day. His assistants would be returning today, and so he had to get enough for all of them. After he finally checked out, and once he finally started on dinner, he would let Louise and Saito know.

As he walked down the street, he took one last glance at the poster, only to arch his eyebrow in surprise. On the bottom corner of the poster was a message, and upon reading it, he smiled.

 _Hope to see you there!_

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Just a heads up, my family and I will be going on vacation next week, so don't expect another chapter until January. Some important things happened here as our heroes continue on their way to Ambrette Town. What will happen? Well, stay tuned for that.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **keybladelight** : Neither Louise nor Saito will be getting Legendary or Mythic Pokemon on their teams. As such, I will have to say no to the question as to whether or not Louise will be getting a Diancie.

 **Dragon Naruto** : Glad to have you with us! Louise and Saito will be getting Mega-Evolutions eventually, but not for a while.

 **hunter407** : Glad to see you back! I'm happy that you enjoyed the chapter, and how the characters have been changing due to their experiences. That's the benefit fo telling our own story using canon characters and not simply following a ridged canon path. As for Louise and Saito getting Z-Moves, that is a no. That is an Alolan thing, and they are in Kalos. Now, had Louise landed in Kalos she might have, but as she is in Kalos, Mega-Evolutions are more than enough.

 **Pacer287** : Glad you enjoyed the chapter! I loved writing Wikstrom in this chapter, and I'm glad to see that he was so well received. As for Saito going back with Louise, you'll have to wait and see.

 **Truemmerphantom** : Nope, you never can. Also, the voice in that documentary was Sir Richard Attenborough. Just FYI.

 **Guest** : Yep, that was indeed a Mewtwo quote. We thought it fit this scene pretty well.

 **antgigi4** : Lydandre's plan was actually the XY Anime plan, so you could say Zygarde. As for Legendary and Mythical Pokemon, they will appear eventually. As for movies, they already happened. We don't plan on retreading ground the anime or its works already depicted. This story is 100% original, in terms of the overall plot.

That's it for this chapter. We hope you all enjoy!


	37. The Strongest Mega Evolution Returns 2

The Strongest Mega Evolution Returns  
(Outsiders Sidestory)  
 **Episode 00: Preparing for the Ultimate Challenge!  
Chapter 2**

* * *

"...We are going to challenge the Kalos Elite Four, and then Champion Diantha! And we are going to win!"

At Alain's declaration, Alain's Pokémon all let out a cheer. Once they calmed down, Alain continued.

"Now, this is going to be tough. The Elite Four are the toughest trainers in Kalos, with some of the toughest Pokémon in Kalos," Alain paused for dramatic effect, "or rather, they used to be until we came along." Both the humans listening and the Pokémon in the audience chuckled a bit at this, causing Alain to faintly smile. "Regardless, they _will_ be tough. You _will_ have to battle at your absolute _best,_ harder than you've ever battled before! So with that in mind, it's time we start training!"

The Pokémon again cheered, before Alain split them off into groups in order to train.

* * *

For the next few hours, Alain trained with his Pokemon extensively, calling upon his reserves to act as the Elite Four. He knew that if he were to accomplish his goal, he would have to understand each of the Elite Four member's various intricacies. Knowing them inside and out was the only path to success, and while he might not have had their exact Pokemon in place, he could at least simulate them.

"So," Professor Sycamore started, approaching Alain and causing the boy to turn his attention towards the professor, "which member of the Elite Four are you planning to fight first?"

"Ooh, ooh! I know, I know!" Mairin piped up while hopping excitedly, "I bet you're going to start by having a rematch with Siebold, right?"

"No. I'll save that for last," Alain contradicted and shook his head. "As for who to face first...I know Malva's been hoping for a rematch for a while now. I was thinking of battling her first."

"That...could be difficult," Professor Sycamore noted with a grimace. "Malva's helping the police with an investigation in Santalune City. It'll probably be some time before she's ready to battle."

"I see..." Alain muttered in disappointment. "...In that case...which member of the Elite Four is based closest to here?"

"All four members of the Kalos Elite Four typically spend their time fairly close to Lumiose City," Sycamore paused and tapped his chin before nodding to himself. "Malva, when she's not helping the police or going elsewhere as a news reporter, accepts challenges right here in Lumiose. Wilkstrom battles at the Battle Chateau on Route 7. Siebold is at his restaurant in Ambrette Town, and Drasna lives and battles in Kiloude City."

"Hmm...in that case..." the Trainer muttered, deep in thought. "...I'll fight Wilkstrom first."

"I see. What Pokémon are you planning on using?" the professor asked, genuinely curious.

"Obviously, Charizard will be one of them," Alain revealed. "Since Wilkstrom uses Steel-Types, I'll bring Breloom as well, and I was thinking..."

While the two continued to talk, Mairin checked the time before looking back up at her friend in a start. "Hey, Alain! We've got to go! It's lunch time!"

"Oh? Guess we better get going," Alain noted, before turning to his Pokémon. "Alright! That's enough for today!" At that, the Pokémon broke off from their training, taking a few moments to relax, before Alain called six of them back into their PokéBalls. He then turned to Professor Sycamore. "We'll stop by again tomorrow."

"I'll see you then," Sycamore agreed, as Alain and Mairin made their way out of the building. Sycamore saw them out, waving them goodbye as they left the lab, and once he was certain they were out of earshot he pulled out a HoloCaster. "He's in town. Are you ready to go?"

 _"Almost,"_ the voice on the other end said. They continued chatting about something when Augustine heard the doorbell, causing him to turn his complete attention towards the unexpected sound. Had Louise and Saito gotten back from the Gym earlier than he expected?

"I'll have to hang up now. Try to be ready by tomorrow, please," he asked.

 _"Tomorrow? Hm...I think we can manage, but it won't be easy. Can you keep him away from the lab for a bit?"_

"Hmm...y'know, I've got an idea."

* * *

The next day...

* * *

Marin had dragged Alain out of bed bright and early that morning, and after breakfast, the too of them were making their way to Professor Sycamore's lab, at a much more sedate pace than before. The two of them were content to take their time and simply chat about what was going on in their lives. They weren't expecting to meet him halfway there.

"Hey!" He greeted, standing near the gate to Kalos Route 5.

"Professor Sycamore? What are you doing out here?" Mairin asked as the two trainers came to a stop.

"I was just seeing some trainers off," the professor explained. He then paused, as though in thought. "Say, Alain..."

"What is it?" Alain asked with a slightly raised eyebrow. His curiosity only deepened when Sycamore looked to the side and smiled knowingly.

"Did you know? The battlefield where Ash and Clemont had their first battle is fairly close to my lab. It was also Ash's first battle in the Kalos Region."

"Is that so?" Alain blinked. "That's interesting, but why bring it up now?"

"I was just thinking...are you sure you're ready to take on the Elite Four?" Sycamore suddenly asked, causing Alain to look at the professor in slight shock.

"What are you saying? Of course he is!" Mairin declared with utmost convction, appearing to be more offended than the champion himself was.

"Are you sure about that? After all, all four members of the Elite Four can use Mega Evolution, as can the Champion, and Alain can't use Mega Evolution anymore. Can he really defeat them as he is now?"

Alain bit his lip at that. These were questions he'd asked himself, of course. He had also wondered if he'd be able to do something like that. His thoughts drifted back to the events of the past year, towards all the battles he had undergone. Alain had battled trainers, Gym leaders, members of the Elite Four, and finally his thoughts turned towards the person he was truly training to battle once again. His eyes hardened, and he came to a conclusion.

"Ash held his own against Mega Evolved Pokémon even without Mega Evolutions of his own," he pointed out. "He managed to battle his way through every obstacle in Kalos through his own grit and determination, and if he can do it, so can I. That's why no matter who the opponent is, I'll battle them with everything I've got, Mega Evolution or no Mega Evolution!"

Professor Sycamore smirked at this. "In that case...how about battling Garchomp and I right now? It'll be good practice."

"You're on!" Alain agreed immediately, causing Sycamore to smile a tad too enthusiastically.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Professor Sycamore admitted. "We'll battle on the battlefield I mentioned before. Follow me!" With that, the professor ran off. Alain followed behind him.

"Wh-Whoa, wait for me!" Mairin called as she ran off after them. Once they reached the battlefield, Augustine stood at one end, having thrown off his lab coat, while Alain stood at the other. Mairin stood in the middle, acting as referee.

"We'll have a one-on-one battle!" Augustine declared, throwing a PokéBall into the air. "Garchomp, go!"

"Fine by me!" Alain agreed, throwing out his own PokéBall. "Charizard, go!"

In two separate flashes of blue light, the Mach Pokémon and the Flame Pokémon had both materialized, staring each other down.

"Alright then, battle...begin!" Mairin declared.

"Charizard, use Dragon Claw!" Alain shouted.

"In that case, we'll use Dragon Claw too!"

Both Pokémon roared and charged at each other, glowing green energy emitting from their claws. The two soon collided, claws pushing up against each other as each side struggled for dominance, their feet digging into the ground and beads of sweat appearing on their brows. After an intense struggle, Garchomp won out and launched Charizard into the air.

"Don't take that lying down! Use Flamethrower!" Alain ordered without missing a beat.

"You too, Garchomp!"

Charizard righted himself midair and exhaled a jet of flames, while Garchomp did the same. The two streams of fire struck in midair, pushing back-and-forth until Charizard's flames pushed through, washing over Garchomp.

"Not bad," Augustine complimented, "but let's see how you like a dose of Garchomp's Rock Slide!"

Garchomp let out a roar, rocks forming in the air above the Flame Pokémon. For a moment, Alain's eyes widened before they hardened themselves yet again.

"Put a stop to it with Air Slash, then follow up with Dragon Pulse!" In response, the Flame Pokémon in question roared and flapped his wings, launching a blade of air at the Dragon-type that sent her flying backwards, the rocks in the air vanishing. Immediately afterwards, he exhaled another stream of fire, this one a mix of purple, blue, and red in color. The flames exploded on contact, again sending the Mach Pokémon flying.

"Air Slash and Dragon Pulse?" Alain's opponent questioned as Garchomp climbed to her feet. "Charizard couldn't use those moves before."

"I felt Charizard needed a few more moves if we were going to take on the Elite Four," Alain explained, the Flame Pokémon landing in front of him. "So I taught him some."

"Marvelous! You're as strong as ever, Alain," Sycamore declared, before a serious look grew on his face, and he reached into his pocket. "So I suppose it's time for me to kick things up a notch!" At that, the Professor pulled out a familiar, green object.

"Here it comes..." Alain noted, as both he and his Pokémon tensed.

"The time has come, Garchomp!" Sycamore declared, a bright white light coming from the Key Stone, while blue light emerged from the Garchompite on Garchomp's collar. _**"Mega Evolve!"**_

The Mach Pokémon roared in agreement as the two lights connected, a multicolored light enveloping Garchomp, as her collar vanished and her shape changed. The fin on her back grew longer, and several notches appeared in it. The blades on her arm changed shape, now looking more like the scythe blades on Scyther or a Lurantis, and her head and shoulders were now more angular. The light burst away, revealing the form of Mega Garchomp, who let out a fierce roar.

"Are you ready, Alain? Because this is where the _real_ battle begins!" Augustine taunted. "Garchomp, Stone Edge!"

Garchomp roared once again and slammed one of her scythe arms into the ground, causing several pillars of glowing blue rocks to emerge in the air in front of him. Charizard responded by jumping into the air and taking flight, flying over the rocks as he exhaled another Dragon Pulse, but with the power boost from Mega Evolution, Garchomp easily tore it apart with a Dragon Claw. The Mega Evolved Mach Pokémon then let off a roar as a Rock Slide fell from the air, sending the Flame Pokémon hurtling down towards the Stone Edge, resulting in a large cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, Charizard was flat on his back, but climbed to his feet quickly.

"Can you keep going, Charizard?" Alain asked. The Flame Pokémon roared in confirmation. "Then use Dragon Pulse!"

Charizard again exhaled a stream of purplish fire, and Garchomp again tore it apart with her Dragon Claw. But this time, when the fire was cleared away, Charizard was nowhere in sight.

"Above you!" Augustine warned. Garchomp looked up just in time to receive a Flamethrower to the face. Being a Dragon-Type, Fire-Type moves weren't very effective against her, but Charizard had a fair bit more battle experience then her, and having a jet of fire slam into your face still wasn't particularly pleasant. The moment the flames dissipated, the Flame Pokémon launched another Dragon Pulse, again sending the Mach Pokémon hurtling backwards. "Knock him out of the sky with Draco Meteor!"

Garchomp roared in agreement, energy gathering into her stomach, before she launched it into the air. It exploded into a swarm of orange meteors, hurtling down over the field. Despite his best efforts, Charizard couldn't avoid them all, and two of them slammed into him, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Don't let up! Dragon Claw!"

"Charizard! Blast Burn!" Alain roared in response. At that, Charizard snapped up and roared along with him, a dome of fire forming around his body that sent Mega Garchomp flying back. The Flame Pokémon then slammed his fist into the ground, causing several cracks to form in the earth beneath him, flames rising from them as they slowly advanced towards the Mach Pokémon.

"Garchomp, look out!" Sycamore warned, but it was too late. Garchomp only had enough time to widen her eyes in horror before the ground beneath her _exploded_ into a gigantic pillar of flame. When it cleared, the Mega Evolved Mach Pokémon was on her knees, panting, and covered in burns. Charizard was also panting, exhausted from the amount of energy poured into that attack.

"Can you still get up, Garchomp?" Augustine asked. The Dragon-Type in question nodded, and struggled to her feet.

"That wasn't enough to take her down!?" Alain gasped.

"That's right! Now, Garchomp! Use Stone Edge!"

Garchomp roared and slammed her scythe-arms into the ground, again launching the devastating Rock-Type attack towards the Flame Pokémon, who was powerless to avoid it after launching an attack as powerful as Blast Burn. The rocks exploded on contact, as Charizard fell onto his back.

"Charizard!" Alain cried out.

"Now wrap this up with Hyper Beam!" Augustine ordered. Garchomp opened her mouth wide, quickly gathering a ball of blackish energy in her mouth.

Charizard had just enough time to struggle to his feet before Garchomp fired the beam, making direct contact with Charizard's stomach and exploding. When the smoke cleared, Charizard was on his back, unmoving. Augustine looked on sternly. Mairin and Alain both had eyes wide with horror, before Alain looked down bitterly. Somberly, Mairin waited for a few moments before holding out her hand to signal the end of a match.

"Sorry, Alain...Charizard is unable to-!"

"No!" Alain interrupted, shocking the others present. "I know Charizard, and I know he has more in him than this!" He turned towards the Flame Pokémon in question. "I know we can win this Charizard! After everything we've been through, every battle we've had...are you really okay losing here!? Like this!?"

Charizard stirred slightly, but remained unmoving. But then, another voice was heard. It sounded like a sharp, fierce, croaking noise. Everyone looked towards the source, finding a familiar Pokémon standing on the branch of a nearby tree. It was a tall, blue, frog-like Pokémon, with it's long tongue wrapped around it's neck like a scarf. It had different patterns on it's body than most Pokémon of it's species, and it had a giant shuriken made of water on it's back.

"Is that...?" Augustine gasped. Alain took it in stride, turning back to Charizard.

"You see? _They_ came to watch this battle! _Can you really let yourself lose here!?"_

At this, Charizard's eyes snapped open, now glowing bright red as he _leapt_ to his feet, letting off a fierce roar as the fire on his tail grew brighter and larger than ever before, and a red, fiery aura covered his body.

"What's that!?" Mairin gasped.

"Charizard's ability, Blaze," Augustine noted. "Since he's on his last legs, his Fire-Type moves have grown a lot stronger!"

"Use Flamethrower!" Alain called, an added energy in his voice. Charizard roared, and exhaled yet another jet of flame, this one far more intense than any one before it. Garchomp had long since recharged from the Hyper Beam, and so attempted to block it with Dragon Claw. The Blaze-boosted flames easily overwhelmed Garchomp's claws and washed over her. The moment they died down, Garchomp looked up to see Charizard flying towards her, wings glowing with the silvery light of a Steel Wing. Garchomp responded by launching another Stone Edge, but the Flame Pokémon easily evaded it, and slammed his left wing into the Mach Pokémon's face. The force of the blow pushed her backwards, but she did not fall, swinging her arms around for another Dragon Claw to push Charizard away. He was knocked back, but quickly launched forwards with his own Dragon Claw, slashing at Garchomp's stomach and bringing her to her knees.

"Now! Seismic Toss!" Alain declared.

"'Seismic Toss?'" Augustine repeated in surprise. Sure enough, Charizard reached underneath Garchomp's arms and grabbed her, before flying up into the air, carrying the Mega Evolved Mach Pokémon with him. The Dragon-type flailed around, attempting to break free, but Charizard held tight as he flew in a few loops, before flying straight down at full speed, and letting go of his opponent. Garchomp slammed into the ground face-first with the speed of a bullet, creating a large cloud of dust as she landed. Charizard landed much more softly on his feet, standing in front of Alain, as Trainer and Pokémon alike gazed intently at the cloud, waiting for the result.

"Garchomp!" Augustine cried out in distress. When the dust cleared, there was a giant crater in the center of the field, with Garchomp lying in the middle of it. In a flash of purplish light, Garchomp returned to her regular form.

"Alright!" Mairin cheered, halfway through jumping in the air, before remembering she was acting as the referee. "Ahem, I mean...Garchomp is unable to battle! Charizard is the winner! Which of course means..." Mairin then proceeded to run up and glomp Alain. "...this match goes to Alain!"

Alain chuckled slightly, and once she let go, he walked up to Charizard. The light of blaze faded, and the Flame Pokémon once again started panting.

"Great job, Charizard," he complimented. On the other end of the battlefield, Professor Sycamore had put his lab coat back on, and walked up to the crater as Garchomp climbed out.

"You did marvelous, Garchomp," he complimented the Mach Pokémon, patting her head. "Now take a nice rest." Garchomp smiled, as Sycamore returned her to her PokéBall. The professor then walked towards Alain, clapping his hands as he did. "And that was simply a marvelous battle, Alain. When did you teach Charizard Seismic Toss?"

"I found some videos of Ash's old Pokémon League Battle on the internet, and in the Johto League, he had a Charizard that used Seismic Toss. It seemed like it could be a useful move, so Charizard and I started working on it," Alain explained. "Speaking of which..." He then turned towards the other Pokémon that had showed up to watch the battle. Said Pokémon was still standing on that same tree branch, watching carefully.

"Did you see that?" Alain asked. "We've grown stronger. And we'll keep getting stronger. And once we've become the Champion, we'll battle you again. And I sure hope you're ready, because it will be the greatest battle of your life!"

Charizard roared in agreement.

The Pokémon smirked, before pumping a webbed fist.

* * *

In another Region, far, far away from Kalos...

* * *

"Bring it on!" A young boy clad in a striped t-shirt and a red baseball cap declared, standing up and pumping his fist as well...despite being in the middle of a classroom. He laughed sheepishly at the stares from the teacher and his classmates, then sat back down.

* * *

Back to Kalos...

* * *

Somehow, Alain seemed to have gotten the message, as he nodded. Greninja nodded as well, letting out a croak as his form fell away like water, and he returned to his regular form. He then jumped from the tree branch to the roof of a nearby building, before dashing off, out of sight.

"It was nice to see him again," Professor Sycamore noted. "So, shall we head back to the lab?"

"Yeah," Alain agreed, already recalling Charizard and starting to walk off, "our Pokémon need rest, after all."

Sycamore nodded and followed after him, Mairin dashing ahead. It wasn't long before they reached the lab. As Alain turned the handle and opened the door...

"SURPRISE!"

...He was greeted by shouts from Clemont, Bonnie, Meyer, Clembot, Sawyer, Sophie, and Cosette. There was a banner hung from the ceiling that read 'Happy Birthday, Alain!'

"What?" Alain gasped. "But my birthday isn't until-" he pulled out his HoloCaster, checked the date, and blinked. "...today. Huh."

"Wow! You actually forgot," Mairin laughed.

"...You were in on this?" Alain asked. Mairin chuckled, and nodded.

"Sycamore and I planned it out over the phone while we were on the way to Lumiose."

"I admit, the real purpose behind that battle was to keep you away from the lab long enough for them to set all this up," Professor Sycamore laughed. "Have to admit, I _kind of_ got a little carried away there."

"You went complete ham, is what you did," Mairin accused, making the partygoers laugh at the professor's expense.

"I see. While this is all nice, we _do_ need to heal Charizard and Garchomp," Alain pointed out. "It wouldn't be fair if we left them out."

"True. We can really get started once those two are alright."

"Well, hurry up then!" Mairin shouted, pushing the two of them towards the room where the healing machine was located. It took a few minutes, but once they were fully healed, the Pokémon were let out of their PokéBalls, and allowed to join in on the party, which had been mostly set up in the Pokémon living area so that all of Alain's Pokémon could join in. With that done, Sophie started up a conversation.

"So, Alain," she began, "Professor Sycamore tells me you're planning to take on the Elite Four?" At this, everyone in the room turned to Alain.

"Really!? That's awesome!" Bonnie cheered. "I just know you're going to win!"

 **"We'll all be rooting for you!"** Clembot added.

"Thanks...and yes. I'm challenging the Elite Four. And I plan to win," Alain stated.

"In that case...you're probably going to need the presents we got you," Cosette giggled, reaching toward a wrapped-up box on the table.

"Wait, wait! He needs to open mine first!" Mairin pointed out, before turning to Sawyer. "You brought it, didn't you?"

"Of course!" The young boy confirmed. "Steven sent it over last week!"

"Steven?" Alain asked. Mairin ignored him and pulled out a small box from within her pockets, while Sawyer reached into his own bag. While Sawyer searched for whatever it is he was looking for, Mairin handed Alain the box.

"Here, this is from me! Happy birthday, Alain!"

Alain took the box, then hesitantly opened it. Inside was what appeared to be a wristband, made of fluffy, blue material similar to the scarf he wore, with a metallic, circular indentation embedded on one side. It looked oddly familiar.

"And of course that wouldn't be complete without this!" Sawyer added, holding up an envelope. "This is from Steven."

Alain took the envelope, opening it up and pulling out a card. Written in fancy handwriting was:

 _Hey Alain!_

 _Happy birthday! Sorry I couldn't be there in person, but my work as Champion keeps me busy.  
Mairin gave me a good idea for a present, so I sent Sawyer along to bring it to you! Hope you enjoy it. Let's battle again some time!_

 _Regards,_

 _Steven Stone_

Alain blinked, noting the envelope still felt a bit heavy. After digging around, he found something else inside of it. A green, marble-like stone with a double helix pattern inside it.

"This is...a Key Stone?" Alain gasped.

"Yep! And an wristband to hold it in! I made the wristband myself," Mairin boasted. Alain was still wide-eyed, but placed the Keystone inside the indentation on the wristband, then slid the wristband around his wrist.

"And next up is ours!" Cosette added, holding up the box she had been reaching for earlier. "Sophie and I have been searching for it for the past few weeks...and Professor Sycamore was supposed to come with us, but then all the stuff with Ms. Valliere happened..."

"Of course, this present is for Charizard, rather than Alan," Sophie pointed out, as Alain took the box.

He looked it over for a moment, before gently pulling off the wrapping, and opening the box. Inside was a fluffy, blue scarf similar to his, and sewn into that scarf was...

"A Charizardite X..." Alain realized. Charizard growled inquisitively as he looked on.

"We all know how much you wanted Charizard to be able to Mega Evolve again, and we all wanted to see it again too!" Mairin explained.

"So when some friends of mine called me and said they found a cavern with a weird blue stone in it, I told the professor right away!" Bonnie added.

"Which is when we went out searching for it," Cosette, added onto that, "we also told Mairin about it..."

"...so I called Steven to see if he had a spare Key Stone!" Mairin finished, smiling wide.

"You guys..." Alain smiled, small tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes. "Thank you. Thank you so much." He then held up the scarf. "Well, Charizard?"

Charizard nodded, as Alain wrapped the scarf around his neck.

"They're warmer than the cold, metal ones Lysandre gave us, aren't they?" Alain noted, feeling the wristband.

The Flame Pokémon let out a soft, growling noise, and nodded.

"Tomorrow, we'll set off for the Battle Chateau, and challenge Wilkstrom...and thanks to you guys...I know we're going to win!"

"But for today...let's party!" Mairin shouted.

"Yeah!" Everyone agreed.

And party they did. There was cake, a few games...

But no party lasts forever, and soon the party was finished, the decorations put away, and guests returned home.

* * *

The next day...

* * *

"Best of luck facing the Elite Four. You know I'll be behind on all the way," Professor Sycamore encouraged, seeing Alain off at the Route gate.

"Thanks," Alain acknowledged, "I'll do my best. The next time we meet...I'll be preparing to take on the Champion!"

"And you know he won't lose, because I'll be there the whole time cheering him on!" Mairin added.

"Of course," Sycamore chuckled. With that, Alain and Mairin walked onwards to Kalos Route 5, waving goodbye to the Professor as they did. They'd barely been traveling ten minutes when another trainer on the road stopped them.

"Hey! I know you!" The trainer, a brown-haired woman, gasped, "You're Alain! The winner of last year's Kalos League!"

"That's right," he confirmed.

"Will you have a battle with me?" The woman asked. Around her neck was a choker with a Key Stone embedded in it.

"Sure. I've been hoping to get some more practice in before facing the Elite Four. Let's have a one-on-one battle!"

"Alright!" The woman cheered, before sending out her Pokémon, a Beedrill, while Alain sent out his Charizard. The woman tapped the Key Stone on her choker, and in a flash, her Beedrill had Mega Evolved.

"Are you ready, Charizard? This'll be our first Mega Evolution in quite some time," Alain asked.

Charizard roared in affirmation.

Alain smirked, and held up his arm, tapping the Key Stone, then recited the words the way he always had.

"Key Stone! Respond to my heart!" He changed, the familiar streams of yellow light emerging, and connecting to corresponding blue streams of light from Charizard's Mega Stone. "Beyond evolution! _**Mega Evolve!"**_

Charizard's new scarf vanished, as his body was covered by a multi-colored light, which upon clearing away, revealed the familiar sight of a dragon covered in black-and-blue scales, with spikes adorning it's shoulders and wings. His tail flame had turned a bright blue, and blue flames emerged from it's mouth.

"I'd almost forgotten how amazing it felt to Mega Evolve..." Alain noted, before calling his attack, "...so let's start the comeback of our Mega Evolution with a win! Charizard, Flamethrower!"

For the first time in a long while, Mega Charizard X let out a roar that shook the Earth, before exhaling a plume of bright, blue flames.  
 **—  
Next time:  
Episode 01: The Knight with an Iron Will!**

* * *

Hello, everyone! After a holiday break, here is another sidestory chapter for Outsiders, written by Catboy41! We hope you guys all enjoy it!

We will be going back to our regular schedule following this chapter.

Onto the Q&A:

 **Christopherprime22** : I'm glad you enjoyed the PWE scene! We really enjoyed that one, too.

 **Bobble Head** : Thank you. In actuality, this story was started a few months before hand, towards the beginning of 2018 over in Spacebattles. It's been a long, hard journey, but we intend to at least finish the Kalos portion of Outsiders.

 **HeavyMetalLoser1** : Just the name, no other connection.

 **Danzo Vespuchi** : Thank you.

 **keybladelight** : We already have Louise's team set out in our planning. You'll have to wait and see what they are.

 **MBenz4268** : Glad to see you back! Please feel free to add anything in reviews, we welcome all of them. As for omakes, should anyone write any, we will be happy to showcase them.

That's it for this week. See you all next time!


	38. Season 1, Episode 9, Chapter 1

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 9, Chapter 1**

[~][~]

For the second night in a row, Louise and Saito had managed to sleep on an actual bed rather than a padded sleeping bag. It was nights like these that the noble to come to cherish. It seemed so long ago that sleeping on an actual mattress with feather pillows and silk sheets were a constant in her life, but now even a cheap box spring was a luxury she cherished at every opportunity.

A quick look at the clock told her that it was eight in the morning. She stretched and yawned as she rose out of bed, snapping her lips and noting the dryness of her mouth. Another yawn escaped her, and she was tempted to simply fall back to her bed and sleep some more, only for a faint smell of breakfast to waft towards her. At this, her stomach faintly growled, a sensation that only grew when she finally entered their room's kitchen.

"Morning, Louise," Saito greeted her as he cooked a few strips of bacon on a greased pan, a plate of pancakes next to him. "Don't wait on my account. Dig in."

"Thank you," she replied as she grabbed a few and placed them on her plate before pouring herself a glass of milk. As he began to eat, Saito finished cooking the bacon and set them off to the side and then joined her at the table.

"You know, we're lucky that the Hotel Ambrette's rooms have a kitchen," he noted as he, too, dug into his food.

"Yes, quite," Louise agreed. The sat in relative silence, simply thankful to have a moment of reprieve. Finally, after a few moments, Saito cleared his throat, causing Louise to look back up at him.

"So," he began, "what do you want to do today?"

Louise finished swallowing, using a napkin to brush away the crumbs along her mouth before finally speaking. "Well, we have a lot of options, especially since Grant graciously offered to take us with him to Cyllage tomorrow after his Old Amber gets revived."

"Yeah, that was nice of him," Saito nodded as he quickly took another bite, "Still, that leaves the question of today. Honestly, I'd be down with us just having a chill day where we do nothing."

"Tempting," Louise conceded, her thoughts drifting back to that exact option, "However, I'd rather not waste a day. I'd like to get some training done. The 'Rock Polish' was not something I anticipated, so I have to rewrite my training a bit."

"Same here. Fast Onixes. Not a pretty picture." Saito shuddered, and Louise couldn't help but agree. The night before, the thought of how in the world she was going to be able to defeat such a large and fast creature kept her past well past midnight. It was probably why Saito managed to wake up before her. To his credit, he didn't seem to be in the mood of holding it over her, to which she was thankful.

"Moving on, I don't think that we should only do training today," Saito pointed out. "There's a lot to offer here in Ambrette. Stunning beaches, great food, the Ambrette Fossil Lab and the Ambrette Aquarium. I've heard great things about both of those."

"Me, too," Louise stated as she finished her meal. She patiently waited for Saito to finish his meal, and once he did, she and him walked over to the sink and cleaned them. "I say we train for a few hours then, once reach a stopping point, head on over and take a look at the Fossil Museum. How does that sound do you?'

Saito's response was a smile and a thumbs up, telling her all she needed to know.

* * *

Being a bustling port city along a major League path, Ambrette Town was no stranger to Pokémon trainers. Hundreds came through every day, and to accommodate them required plenty of Pokémon Centers, PokéMarts, not to mention battlefields for training and battling. As such, it wasn't hard for Saito and Louise to find a collection of battlefields near their hotel. Many trainers had already taken up several of the lots, but the two of them were able to claim a lot for themselves. With Derflinger once again looking over the egg, the two trainers immediately began their training.

"Okay, Espirit. Steady…steady…" Louise calmly stated to Espirit, the Kirlia struggling to lift a heavy boulder into the air. A nearby trainer had been kind enough to generate a few for her and Saito to practice, and she intended to use whatever time she had to finding ways to beat Grant.

Overconfidence beat her last time. She could not afford to let that happen again.

Finally, with beads of sweat dripping down her forehead, Espirit relaxed and gave a pained smile to Louise. The looked at her in concern, worried that the strain would be too much for the Kirlia, but Espirit shook her head and steeled her resolve.

"Tell me if it gets too difficult. Okay, girl?" Louise asked, and Espirit nodded. The noble nodded back then looked at her team. They were all standing at attention, ready to start their training for the day. Their faces showed how determined they were to overcome the challenge ahead of them. Brennaraki stepped up first and braced herself, and Louise nodded.

"Go!" she ordered, and at once Espirit psychically hefted the boulder and began to move it at an increasingly fast pace. Rather than attempt to attack or block it, Brennaraki focused on simply dodging. Louise, knowing that a Fire-type like Brennaraki would already be at a massive disadvantage against a Rock-type gym leader, decided that the training today would be best spent by practicing how to dodge large and fast objects. Saito had agreed with her, and on the other side of their lot he was doing the exact same thing she was, only with Maindo doing the heavy lifting.

Brennaraki ducked, bobbed, weaved, and jumped over the rock each time it neared her. A few times it managed to graze her body, but she ignored those moments much as she possibly could. When the heavy impacts landed, the blows stung and often knocked her to the ground, but she forced herself to her feet and shrugged it off. She would not allow herself to be beaten in such a manner. Her pride wouldn't allow it.

"Alright, that enough. Brennaraki, take a break," Louise called out, Espirit immediately placing the boulder onto the ground with a loud thud. Brennaraki, too tired to continue, waddled out of the lot's boundary and sat down, breathing deeply. Hearing a flutter of wings, the Fennekin looked to see Aile looking down at her, an offertory Oran berry held out in the Fletchling's beak for her.

" _Thanks,_ " Brennaraki said to her teammate as she gently took the berry and began to eat it. Aile chirped happily and fluttered over to Espirit, offering her the same thing. When Espirit nodded that she was ready to continue, Louise nodded back and ordered Aile to the field.

"Alright, Aile. Let's get to work on that Steel Wing you just learned," she said, and Aile chirped enthusiastically. She had managed to finally crack it the night before, and she was eager to try it out. Rather than attempt to lift the large boulder, Espirit sat back and watched as the Fletchling took to the air and began circling around. Aile's eyes focused on the target below and quickly divebombed. As she did, her wings began to shine in a silvery glow that expanded from the centers to the tips of her wings until both were completely consumed. Had one not known any better, it would have been easy to think that both wings were now completely made of steel.

"Yes," Louise breathed as the tip of Aile's right wing contacted with the rock, driving a deep gouge into its surface. Aile gritted her beak at the jarring impact, her flight becoming wobbly for a brief moment before righting herself. "You good to keep going?"

Aile chirped in agreement as she banked around for another pass. Nodding at this response, Louise turned her head to Espirit and signaled to begin the next stage of the training. Espirit immediately got to her feet and began to lift the rock into the air, Aile hovering overhead and watching as the rock gained more and more speed. When Louise eventually gave the signal to proceed, Aile divebombed once again and used Steel Wing, intending to strike the rock as before.

Unfortunately for the Fletchling, she miscalculated on her approach and missed the rock by a hair, allowing it to slam into her side and knock her to the ground.

"Aile!" Louise called out as Espirit immediately dropped the rock and teleported over to her, administering a Heal Pulse to the downed Pokémon. A few moments later, the bird was back on her feet, a little wobblier than before but still standing. Louise signaled to change exercises, but Aile steadfastly refused. After a brief moment of shock, Louise smiled faintly.

"If that's what you want. Again!"

* * *

" _Hey, Derf?_ " Tanuki asked as he took a break from his training, sitting on a bench alongside the ancient Honedge and watching as Maindo practiced teleporting and shooting Shadow Balls at the same time.

"Yeah, squirt?" Derflinger replied, his eye alternating between watching Louise and Saito's simultaneous training. He couldn't help but notice, after spending a few weeks with the two of them, that they both seemed to have a different focus on their teams. Saito's strategies revolved around getting up close and personal, with the occasional ranged attack thrown in for good measure. Louise, on the other hand, was the opposite, focusing on range over physical attacks.

He wasn't criticizing, just observing.

" _Why aren't you training with us?_ " the Riolu finally asked, causing Derflinger to chuckle.

"You mean besides the fact that I'm looking after the egg?"

" _Besides that,_ " Tanuki replied with a roll of his eyes. " _And don't say you can't fight. I saw you fight the other Honedge the Princess had._ "

"Hmm," Derflinger thought for a moment before raising his sword handle upward in a shrug. "You sure you really want to know? Answer might disappoint you."

" _I can handle it,_ " Tanuki answered.

Derflinger laughed quietly to himself before answering, "Simple, really: I just don't want to. Before you go and accuse me saying 'fighting is bad' and that 'training shouldn't happen at all'," Derflinger cut off the impulsive Riolu, whose face betrayed the very questions on Tanuki's lips, "I don't believe that at all. While there are definitely causes not worth fighting for under any circumstance, there are others that are the opposite.

"Look at Louise over there," Derflinger directed Tanuki's attention over to the rosecrown, who was directing Espirit to hurl the large rock around while also throwing smaller pebbles at the same time, "I haven't even spent much time with her, and already I know exactly why she is fighting for the League. Validation, self-worth, personal growth, and a good old helping of spite."

Tanuki let out a snort at this, remembering the times Louise had talked about Arceus and her encounter with him. It took a long time for him to believe her, as with the rest of his team outside of a stubborn Maindo, but the few times she did speak about the Alpha Pokémon were never pretty. He never imagined that someone could describe the Creator of All Things as a 'damned goat with a God complex', but here he was. In all honestly, it more entertaining than anything.

"Saito's the same way," Derflinger stated as their attention turned towards Saito, "He's doing this for the much the same reasons as Louise, just not as pronounced. To him, this journey represents a lost opportunity finally presenting itself, independence, and a chance for glory. Admirable goals in their own right, for both of them.

"Me? I'm pretty content where I am. I have no need for a shiny cup to prove my superiority, as that is readily apparent," Tanuki laughed at Derflinger's declaration, who took it in stride and continued on, "Beyond that, I'm old. This will be my sixth millennia on Earth, and during that time I've learned many things."

" _Things that would make Saito and Louise training you be a waste of time,_ " Tanuki finally realized the crux of Derflinger's decision, which the Honedge confirmed by nodding. " _You'd rather teach them what you know rather then they train you._ "

Derflinger went silent for a moment, a faint breeze rustling by as he took a deep breath, then spoke, "I've met many people over the years, kid. Good people, bad people, people in between. I can say that, so far, Saito and Louise are among the good. But even the good people I knew made horrific mistakes and decisions, and I don't want that to happen to them."

At that, Derflinger and Tanuki's attention was drawn by Saito calling over Louise, asking her if she wanted to grab a bite to eat at a nearby restaurant called The Goldeen Grill. The girl answered yes enthusiastically and signaled the end of their training session as well as Tanuki's conversation with Derflinger.

Before the Riolu was finally returned to his comfortable Pokéball, he couldn't help but think back to what the Honedge was saying. He wondered exactly what mistakes Derflinger was referring to, and why he was worried Saito and Louise would make the same ones.

* * *

"So," Louise began as they stood in front of the Ambrette Fossil Museum, the gargantuan structure sprawling across nearly an entire city block, "this is the Fossil Museum?"

"Yep," Saito replied with a pop, then smiled playfully at her, "After you, madame."

"Oh, shut up." Louise playfully rolled her eyes and walked inside, Saito and Derflinger shortly behind. The receptionist greeted them as they entered, and after Saito paid their entry fee, they were allowed inside. Mounted fossils of long-extinct Pokémon, artist interpretations of ancient environments, and detailed timelines of Kalos' ancient history lined the first room they were in, and Louise couldn't help but marvel at it all.

"Wow…" Louise gasped as she gazed upon a skeleton of a large flying creature. She looked upon the plaque below it to see it read 'Aerodactyl'. Humming to herself, Louise pulled out her Pokédex and flipped through the various Pokémon inside before finally finding the creature in question.

She began to read silently, " _Aerodactyl, the Fossil Pokémon. This Pokémon thrived millions of years ago in its home mountain ranges as an apex predator, its mastery of the skies unmatched before the K-T Impact caused its extinction. Despite its fangs and overall carnivorous appearance, Aerodactyls are actually omnivorous, as revived specimens have been observed eating berries and other plants._

" _Aerodactyls are noted to be highly territorial and solitary creatures, both in their native habitats and newly revived, causing extreme belligerence in the worst of scenarios. As a result, only the most skilled trainers are capable of handling this Pokémon,_ "

' _Hmm, interesting,_ ' she mused to herself as she quickly looked towards Saito. Like herself, he was engrossed in studying the collection of fossils, recognizing mounted skeletons of Kabuto and Kabutops, Omanyte and Omastar, and many, many more. Derflinger was hovering right beside him, ignoring the occasional odd look their fellow museum-goers were giving the ancient Honedge.

Louise decided not to disturb them and continued onward, giving ample attention towards the wide array of specimens being displayed. The natural history of Kalos was given extreme amounts of detail, with artworks showing how scientists think the world looked at that point in time. In was honestly fascinating to Louise. Back in Tristain, the world was thought to be constant and unchanging. The mountain ranges in her home was always there, the ocean fishermen fished from was always there, the same species existed since the dawn of time, and even the countries that made up fabric of Halkegenian society stayed.

She now knew that was entirely wrong. Louise was finding that revelation was becoming less and less disconcerting as time went on, but regardless she now knew that the true history of the world was much more dynamic. Kalos in particular had a rich and vibrant history. At once point several million years ago, much of the northern portions of the region was an ocean, with dynamic mountain ranges sprouting along the southern border. The northern coastline was covered in artic boreal forests, where Amaura and Aurorus thrived, while the southern mountain range was kept warm from volcanic activity, allowing for Tyrunt and Tyrantrum to become the dominant predators of their time.

Extinction was an entirely new concept for her as well. To be fair, she was aware of how, sometimes, a species would just disappear and never return, but church dogma maintained that 'extinction' was impossible. Staring at the bones of long dead creatures showed that was not only categorically false, but potentially a dangerous delusion. As the plaques detailed, many of these ancient Pokémon died from loss of habitat or some other cataclysmic event, much like the K-T Impact. The idea of an asteroid bearing down on her was a terrifying thought, but she pushed it aside.

"Louise, Saito!" she heard a voice call out. Louise turned to see Grant waving at her and Saito. The two trainers waved back and made their way towards the Gym Leader, noticing a woman scientist wearing a lab coat next to him.

"Hello, Grant," Saito greeted, "So, who's this?"

"Allow me to introduce Doctor Ellie Sattler. She's the head researcher here, with a focus on paleobotany," Grant announced, and the blond scientist shook Saito and Louise's hand.

"Welcome to the fossil center," she said with a smile. "We're always happy to see new faces here."

"This place is great so far," Louise declared then briefly turned to look at all the fossils. She just now noticed how there were a variety of flattened rocks with plant-like imprints on them.

Sattler chuckled. "Yes, all of those are fossils. They don't get quite as much interest as the animals, but I find them to be just as, if not more interesting."

"You're a paleobotanist, so you're biased," Grant joked, while Sattler shook her head.

"Doctor Sattler, if you don't mind," Louise spoke, "I'm curious. How exactly are fossils made? I've read up a little bit on it, but I'd like your take."

"Certainly!" Sattler's eyes brightened as she led the group to a display of small fossils, a mixture of plants and animals. "Now, you have to understand that most things don't get fossilized. Organic matter doesn't last very long without preservation. As such, the first key step in the creation of any fossil is sheer luck."

"Luck?"

"Yes, luck. A creature or plant has to be lucky enough, for us, to have died and be rapidly buried in sediment." Seeing the confused look on Louise's face, Sattler nodded to herself in understand. "Dirt, sand, mud, and other soft materials that don't decompose."

"Ah, I see. And this preserves them?" Louise guessed, and Sattler nodded.

"Indeed. Now, the soft tissue like organs and skin don't usually get preserved. There have been very rare and priceless occasions where that was not the case, but for the most part those decompose and leave behind the hard tissues. Teeth, bones, shells, things like that. After millions of years and more and more sediment get deposited on top of the remains, the original organic matter is replaced with what is essentially an imprint of various minerals. Thus giving us a fossil."

"Hmm," Louise hummed to herself as she leaned forward to inspect a small Dome fossil. According to the plaque, the fossil was that of a Kabuto. "That makes sense, but something does confuse me still. You said that the organic material is completely gone, destroyed during the fossilization process."

"Yes, that is correct."

"Then how do you manage to get enough DNA to revive a Pokémon?" she asked. Sycamore had described to her early on in her stay with him exactly what DNA was. It was, admittedly, hard of a concept to fully wrap her head around, but it wasn't so complex that she didn't understand the basics.

Saito chimed in, "Yeah, I've been wondering that, too. How do you get enough DNA from the fossils? I thought it'd be long gone by now."

"Ah, for the longest time we thought so, too!" Sattler clarified. "Afterall, DNA only has a half-life of five-hundred and twenty-one years, so it should have been impossible. But, around twenty years ago, scientists in Kanto discovered trace amounts of DNA in a fossilized Omanyte's helix shell. Scientists in Sinnoh later collaborated those findings with their own study. We're still trying to figure out why that is, but for whatever reason, DNA lasts tens of thousands of times longer in Pokémon than in other creatures, at least. Once that was discovered, and the technology perfected, we were able to start bringing these extinct creatures back to life."

"Huh…" Saito said softly, turning his attention back towards the fossils. He was slightly disappointed that his question wasn't really answered, but the fact that the scientists themselves don't really know made him feel better about it. He turned back to thank the doctor who suddenly looked up with a jolt and turned back towards Grant.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" she announced, "Grant, we got the readings back on your amber. There's DNA of an Aerodactyl in it! Enough to be revived!"

"Really? That's amazing!" Grant smiled. "When will it be ready?"

"Just a few short hours. Doctor Wu's working on it now."

"Do you mind if I watch? I've always been interested in the process," Grant asked, only for Sattler to shake her head.

"Sorry, authorized personnel only. You have to understand?" She appeared apologetic, but Grant raised his hands and shook his head.

"No, it's fine. I understand." He turned back to look at Saito and Louise, tapping his chin before turning back towards the paleobotanist. "Say, where's Dr. Grant?"

"Currently up in Glittering Cave. That recent cave in happened to unearth some high-quality fossils, so he's leading a team up there."

Grant chuckled to himself, "Always a digger, isn't he?

"Glittering Cave? Louise and I were actually thinking about going up there. Is it closed to the public or…?" Saito asked, the end of his question hanging.

Sattler shook her head. "Only the section Grant is at, actually. The rest of the cave is open to visitors. If you'd like, you can take a Rhyhorn up there. There's a lot of interesting Pokémon there. Who knows? You may even find a fossil of your own."

"That sounds grand," Louise stated with a smile, Saito nodding along with her. "Where might we find one?"

"There's a Riding station just outside the city limits, along Spikes Passage. You can't miss it, and they hold services all day and night."

Louise and Saito smiled at her then bid farewell, returning back to visit the rest of the museum. They wanted to go and visit Glittering Cave, but they to make sure they got their money's worth at the Fossil Museum first. There was entire section on undersea life that they had missed, not to mention the section on the Kalosian Ice Age. Grant watch them with a smile on his face, then became serious and turned back to face the scientist.

"Ellie, can I speak to you in private?" he asked, and the doctor nodded. She led him to her office, shutting the door behind her and locking the door. Once she sat down behind her desk, Grant his throat and began to speak.

"Has there been any suspicious activity recently?" he asked, and the doctor seemed confused.

"Um… no, not really. Why?"

"You remember the break in at the Daycare last week?"

"Team Flare? How could I not, it was all over the news," she declared, only for her eyes to widen. "You don't think…?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I've surveyed each and every single blast site of that cave in, and it was definitely deliberate. They purposefully targeted fossil-rich areas, and the perpetrators undoubtedly made off with at least a few. How many or of what quality, I do not know, but they were after fossils. And when it happens right when the remnants of Team Flare attack the largest daycare in the region, that gets suspicious."

"We are the largest reserve of fossils in the region," Sattler noted, "so we'd be a prime target."

"Exactly."

"What makes you think they'd attack now? Their Daycare forces were mostly repelled."

"Yes, but Flare is fractured right now. Isolated into independent cells. The ones that attacked the daycare were highly coordinated, well supplied, and competently led. There's no guarantee that is the case here. In fact, so far I'd say the opposite. The 'Ambrette Cell', judging by the fact that they clearly overestimated the number of explosives they needed, are not competently led, so I'd imagine that they'd be desperate."

"And desperate criminals make dangerous criminals," Sattler realized, and Grant nodded. She thought for a moment, then nodded back. "Alright, I'll have Owen and Muldoon beef up security. If they arrive, we'll be ready for them."

"Be discreet about it," Grant cautioned, "If they know that you suspect they're coming, they might call off the entire thing."

"Will you be staying?" she asked, but Grant shook his head.

"No, unfortunately. I have my responsibilities up in Cyllage. Besides, if they knew a Gym Leader was in town, there's no way they'd do anything."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Not according to this stubborn INTERPOL agent I met. Smith or something, I don't know," Grant shrugged and moved on, "In any case, once the Aerodactyl is revived I'm heading back up. If anything happens, please let me know and I'll drop everything."

"Don't worry," Sattler reassured the Gym Leader. "If this 'Ambrette Cell' attacks us, like you think, they won't know what they're dealing with."

Grant smiled. "That's what I like to hear."

The bus ride had been rather uneventful, much to Elizabeth's relief. After all, a life with excitement around every corner would quickly become as boring as one where everything went as planned. However, some excitement would have helped her take her mind off her actions yesterday.

* * *

It's been said that hindsight was twenty-twenty. Elizabeth could definitely attest to the validity of that proverb. She wasn't in the best frame of mind yesterday, but that didn't excuse what she had said. She hadn't meant to burn her bridges with her parents, but that's just what she ended up doing. It was just like her to take an already undesirable situation and somehow force it to its worst possible extreme. The verdette had burned one bridge after another in the past few months. If her current endeavor failed, she would have no one to fall back on.

Elizabeth shook her head. She could deal with her insecurities later. Right now, she just had to make it to her hotel and try and gain some fans in her showcase match. The verdette looked down and smiled. Zorua was asleep in her lap, getting some much-needed rest after her busy week. From what Pierre had told her, both Eevee and Zorua had trained almost non-stop during the week she spent in the hospital. Pierre hadn't tried to divine their motivation for doing so, but he posited that her fight with the Gallade may have been a significant factor. Regardless of their motivation, the fact that Zorua had grown more in a week away from her than she had in the month prior to the incident at the daycare spoke volumes about how poorly suited Elizabeth was to be a trainer. And that wasn't even considering Eevee's progress.

The bus stopped, the wheels screeching loudly and breaking Elizabeth out of her thoughts. She took a look a sign and saw it read 'Cyllage City Station'. It was finally her stop. The commotion woke Zorua up and the fox jumped off Elizabeth's lap. Zorua yawned and stretched out her legs before looking back up at Elizabeth, her black, fluffy tail wagging in excitement.

"Here goes nothing," the verdette said to herself as she stood up to grab her things. As she did, she reached down to her belt for a Pokéball, only for Zorua to yip faintly. Looking down on her face, Elizabeth could see that Zorua didn't want to go back into her Pokéball just yet, and so she obliged her. It wasn't that hard of a decision. Her team's antics gave her some measure of happiness, even if she didn't quite feel worthy of them.

Finally, she was off the bus. The verdette took her first steps into a new chapter in her life. Despite Zorua all but running circles around her in excitement, Elizabeth couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy. Cracking a small, rueful smile, the verdette advanced toward her uncertain fate.

"Good luck, me. I'm certainly going to need it."

[~][~]


	39. Season 1, Episode 9, Chapter 2

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 9, Chapter 2**

[~][~]

Elizabeth had gotten lost almost immediately. During her previous visits to Cyllage, the verdette hadn't really gotten any chances to really explore the place. She had always been dragged around by her parents or by a 'friend.' In addition, Lyco's Lounge – the hotel she was going to be staying at – was unsurprisingly obscure. Nobody she had talked to knew where the place was, if they even recognized the name at all.

Sighing to herself in resignation, Elizabeth turned a corner, only to find herself back on the city's main street. The verdette was silent for a moment. Then, she slammed her fist into a nearby wall. The verdette was frustrated, both at herself for not thinking to ask Versus for directions and at her patron for not considering that she might not know where this obscure hotel was. And now her arm hurt.

Sensing her trainer's distress, Zorua scanned the area for anyone who looked like they might be able to help. Unfortunately, most of the people nearby had begun cautiously moving away after Elizabeth's outburst. Most, but not all.

"Hey, are you okay?" a woman asked in concern. Elizabeth looked up and was somewhat taken aback by the appearance of the woman addressing her. The woman had her hair done up in messily curled twintails and wore something akin to a dress a conductor might wear. However, she had what looked to be a gas mask covering the lower half of her face.

Zorua yapped, jolting Elizabeth out of her stupor. "Uhh, yes," she said lamely, "I'm looking for a place called 'Lyco's Lounge,' but I can't seem to find it."

"Oh!" the woman said, a glint of surprise visible in her eyes, "What a coincidence. My coworkers and I are on our way there right now. Come on, I can show you there."

"Uhh, thank you," Elizabeth said, a little taken aback.

"You're welcome. If you don't mind me asking, why exactly were you looking for Lyco's Lounge? It's not a very well-known venue, and I suspect that you wouldn't have gotten lost if you'd booked the room yourself."

"Oh, no. It's fine," the verdette said, laughing weakly, "You're right that I didn't book the room myself. I'm part of the Kalos PWE League, my sponsor made the arrangements for me."

"Interesting," the raven-haired woman said, "My name is Janet Crane, by the way. I went by Scarecrow during my time in the ring."

"Elizabeth Colette," the verdette said, not sure how else to respond, "Not sure if I'm going to get a stage name."

Zorua let out a yip. Despite there being nothing to indicate such, Elizabeth _knew_ that there were two people approaching her from behind. Almost without warning, the verdette spun around, extending her arm to throw a wild punch, only to have it caught by a silver-haired woman.

"Woah, there!" the other woman said, "No need to lash out like that!"

"On the contrary, Raven," the silver-haired woman said, releasing Elizabeth's arm, "she has much better instincts than you."

"At least I don't try and attack anyone who gets too close to me," Raven retorted, running a hand through her long, black hair in annoyance.

"Unless you're drunk," Janet interjected.

"But then I'm drunk!"

Janet sighed, "Anyway. Elizabeth, these are my coworkers, Erina Hunter and Raven Silverburgh. Erina, Raven, this is Elizabeth Colette. She's apparently the newbie we're supposed to be training."

Elizabeth shrunk back a little. Zorua jumped into her arms and began to nuzzle her chest in an effort to cheer her up.

Erina's green eyes softened at the sight. "I don't suppose she's your partner," she said.

"No, she isn't," the verdette replied as the four of them started walking again, "Zorua is part of my team, yes, but Machamp is my partner for my first match. Apparently, he went viral some time ago."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Raven said, adjusting one of the straps on her top, " _You're_ the gal who got her Machamp beat up by a Fennekin!?"

Elizabeth began to shrink in on herself, but Raven just kept going while laughing.

"That was hilarious! Well, maybe not for you. The video made you seem pretty frustrated at the time. Your scar is pretty badass, by the way," Raven continued, opening a Pokéball, "Don't you think so, Aegislash?"

The verdette went still at those words. Slowly, she turned to face Raven. Her eyes widened as she confirmed that, yes, it was an Aegislash. Almost unconsciously, Elizabeth began to back away from him.

"Uhh, what's wrong?" Raven asked, not comprehending the reason behind the verdette's change in demeanor, "What's scaring you?"

Elizabeth didn't respond and just kept backing away, much to Zorua's increasing distress.

"Uhh, Elizabeth?" Raven tried again, "What's—"

"Raven," Erina interjected, stepping between Elizabeth and Raven, "Why don't you and Janet go on ahead. You're obviously making her uncomfortable."

"Eh?" Raven replied, shocked, "And why should I—"

"Raven."

"You too, Janet!?"

"Let's go."

"Fine."

With that, Janet and Raven took off, taking Aegislash with them. Neither Elizabeth nor Erina said anything for a moment.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Erina said lamely.

"Not really, no."

"Ah." The two were silent again, before Erina finally spoke up again, "Uh, I was going to have my partner go tie Raven's hair to a door. Do you think Zorua would like to help?"

Zorua yipped in agreement.

"I guess that's a yes," Elizabeth replied with a small chuckle.

"Okay, then," Erina said, taking out a Pokéball of her own, "Unfezant, come out."

A drab, grey bird coalesced from the ball of energy and let out a squawk.

"Unfezant," Erina said, "Why don't you go take Zorua and mess with Raven?"

The bird cawed in agreement and took off once Zorua had climbed on her back, and Elizabeth watched them go with a sad look on her face.

"Self-esteem issues, huh?" Erina asked, easily reading Elizabeth's mood.

"What?" Elizabeth denied, shaking her head frantically. "No! Not at all."

Erina merely smiled sympathetically. "You don't need to act tough for me, I've had them before."

"Really, Erina?" Elizabeth looked surprised, and Erina nodded.

"Really," the silver-haired woman answered, "Do you know why I wear my hair like this?"

"A bob cut with a ponytail about as long as you are tall?" Elizabeth said, quirking an eyebrow, "It's certainly distinctive, although it's probably hell to maintain."

"You're right, it is. But that's not what I meant.

"So, back when I was younger, before I joined PWE, obviously, I was a member of Team Rocket. Mind you, this was twenty-odd years ago, so before they gained their reputation of being a global yakuza organization and the eternal enemy of Ash Ketchum. Back then, I was in need of money, and they had a position open. So there I was, I had a nice job as a night guard for some warehouse complex. Sure, my boss was a little odd – what kind of gal would want people to unironically refer to her as 'Ouroboros,' after all – but I met Raven there, so it wasn't all bad. Then my peaceful life was shattered by an encounter with a group of meddling kids."

" _Keh heh heh_ Really, Erina?" Elizabeth said, "Do you really expect me to take your story seriously if you include 'meddling kids'?"

"How would you describe them?" Erina said, holding back a laugh of her own, "They were a pair of sisters with matching facial scars, a bitter girl who had sworn revenge against her former best friend, and a Snorlax in human form."

" _Keh_ I guess 'meddling kids' does fit them pretty well."

"Well, long story short, I rightfully called the elder sister flat, and she didn't take it too well. She grabbed my hair, which I wore a good deal longer back then, and proceeded to smash her knee into my face and had her posse beat me up while I was down. The next day, I cut my hair short, and about two months later, Raven and I both quit to join PWE, which is also about the time I started growing the ponytail."

"Well," Elizabeth chuckled, "You certainly had an interesting childhood."

"That I did," Erina replied through a small smile, "Anyway, I think that we're almost to the hotel. I wonder if—"

"DAMMIT!" they heard Raven scream.

"I'll take that as a yes," Elizabeth said.

* * *

Grant was gone by the time Saito and Louise finally finished their tour of the Fossil Museum. Both of them agreed that it was a worthwhile venture, with Louise even buying a few fossil-themed souvenirs and books from the museum gift shop, much to Saito's chagrin. Still, she was happy with them, and so after grabbing a quick bite to eat, the two of them made their way towards Route Nine.

True to its name of Spikes Passage, much of the route itself was covered in sharp, jagged rocks that made traversing up the mountain path a hassle for all but the most experienced mountain climbers. As much as Saito and Louise wanted to think that they were decent hikers, they knew that trying to hike up that mountain would have been nearly impossible were it not for the Rhyhorns they were currented using as mounts.

"You know," Saito called out as they continued their trek, "have to say that this is a lot smoother than what I was expecting."

"You call this smooth?" Louise asked, distinctly shaking with each of her Rhyhorn's steps.

"Compared to what it could be, yeah."

"Hmmph," Louise grunted then went back to her silent contemplation. The ride was much smoother than she had anticipated, but nothing compared to the smooth gallop of a horse. Granted, she was riding over rough terrain, but even sitting on a saddle couldn't liberate Louise completely from the sensation of sitting on hard rock for several hours.

She was also beginning to notice how the air was becoming slightly thinner the more they travelled upwards. Nothing too difficult for her to handle, but the change was noticeable. Frequent trips in her youth to Albion for royal events taught her how to recognize the change in altitude, but that was more than what she was experiencing now. It was honestly more of a curiosity than an actual problem. Still, in anticipation of the temperature getting slightly colder, Louise did wrap a pink scarf around her neck to keep herself warm, just as Saito had a blue one of his own.

"Hey, up ahead!" Derflinger called out. Louise and Saito looked forward and saw several markers poking out of the ground. As they got closer, they could see that they were caution signs, warning of fossil excavations up ahead. Louise smiled to herself and sighed, relieved that their trek up the mountain would be over soon.

Half an hour after passing the signs, the ground finally began to level out. It was still bumpy, but compared to the jagged path before, it might as well have been paved road. Not long after, the duo finally arrived at a series of tents. Paleontologists could be seen bustling around the campsite, carrying excavating equipment into a nearby cave entrance. A man wearing a tan hat and blue button-up shirt with his sleeves rolled up was directing orders to fellow paleontologists, and both trainers assumed the man to be Dr. Grant.

"Dr. Grant?" Louise called out as she disembarked from her Rhyhorn, with Saito following close behind. The man perked up at his name being said, and turned to face the approaching trainers. He dismissed a young man next to him then walked forward to meet Saito and Louise halfway.

"Who might you two be?" he asked. "Traveling trainers?"

"Yes, sir," Louise politely answered. "My name is Louise, and this is my friend, Saito."

"Hello," Saito greeted, and Grant nodded.

"We were hoping we could explore Glittering Cave, if it's not too much trouble. I know that you are all busy excavating some fossils."

"Hmm," Grant frowned and rubbed his chin in thought before nodding. "Well, as long as you don't stray into our cordoned sections you should be fine. The areas are marked by yellow tape. Everything else is open to the public."

"Thank you, Doctor!" Louise smiled, as did Saito. The two prepared to run off, only for Grant to cough and redirect their attention.

"As a precaution, I'm going to advise you both to try and avoid any Pokémon battles while you're down there. It might mess up our equipment. You're free to defend yourselves, but please, nothing unnecessary."

"Of course," Saito said with a nod. Grant smiled then patted the young man on the shoulder, allowing them to proceed. The two trainers strapped their flashlights to their heads and sprayed a layer of repel on themselves as another paleontologist loaned them some excavation equipment before they entered the shadowy cave.

"Doctor Grant?" the young man from before questioned his mentor.

"Yes, Billy?" Grant replied, turning towards him.

"If I may, why'd you let them go in? Not opposed, mind you, just curious."

Grant chuckled before responding, "It's not like we could have stopped them if we wanted to. Gennaro may be a greasy lawyer, but not even he can get a public place like Glittering Cave completely shut down for fossil excavations. Besides, you saw the looks on their faces. Two young kids travelling all the way up here, just to search for fossils? That kind of behavior should be encouraged. Who knows? They might find something we would have missed."

"True," Billy nodded before his expression turned more excited. "By the way, we've made some progress on the fossil over in Site B. We think it's the shell of a Tirtouga!"

"Tirtouga? But that could only mean—"

"That millions of years ago, this area was covered in water! Maybe even an inland sea!" Billy enthusiastically finished. "We've also found some fossilized jaw bones of Tyrantrums, so the two species might have coexisted at some point."

"That's amazing!" Grant stated. Billy smiled, then led the senior paleontologist towards the excavation site in question. The two overlooked the site as their fellow paleontologists carefully removed the rock, and Grant couldn't help but smile.

* * *

"This is so…pretty," Louise stated as they passed by the shimmering gemstones embedded into the cave walls. She recognized several of them instantly, spotting rubies, sapphires, amethysts, and emeralds, among other gemstones. The light from their headlamps reflected off of them, creating an serene glow around them that was enhanced by a sheen of green Luminous Moss.

"Yeah, it is," Saito agreed as he watched a group of Woobats flutter around overhead stalagmites covered in Ferroseeds. In the cavern below them, they could see a wide array of Pokémon shuffling about. They saw Machops breaking apart boulders in their training, Cubones prying moss off the cave walls with their bone clubs, Lunatones and Solrocks hovering near crystals. They could even see a family of Kangaskhan walking through the cavern, the heads of their children poking out of their pouches as the mothers and fathers kept a close eye on a herd of nearby Rhyhorns. Some were even keeping watch over the Cubones.

"Does the Pokédex say anything about how this cave was formed?" Louise asked, not wanting to pull out her own device to answer the question. Saito quickly pulled out his Pokédex and opened it, bringing up the map function and selecting their current location.

"Says here," he began, "that Glittering Cave was originally formed by groups of Onixes eating their way through the mountain. Eventually, these Onixes found their way to the surface."

"Yeah, I remember when that happened," Derflinger mused. "Ambrette Town was still just a fishing village when they came out. Caused quite the scare at first, until they found all the gold and gems inside. As you both can see, the Southern Kalosian Mountains are rich in the stuff, and the caves provided Ambrette with easy access. Turned them into a major kingdom in almost no time at all, at least before King Kalos took them over to finance his armies."

"Yep, I see that," Saito nodded before continuing. "Eventually, the mines ran dry, and so it was abandoned. Wild Pokémon moved in, leading to the creation of a vibrant ecosystem down here. Eventually, the Kalosian Royal Family decreed the entire area to be a nature preserve, one that was opened up to Pokémon Trainers as part of the training circuit."

"Huh, neat," Louise stated before moving on. With Saito and Derflinger following her, they continued walking down a series of passageways, the walls, floors, and ceilings of which easily showed the past presence of Pokémon grinding against the rocky surface, before finally reaching a dead end. Several gemstones jetted out of the walls and ceilings, and Saito sighed.

"Great, another dead end," he declared and prepared to turn around, only for Louise hold up her hand and stop him.

"Wait," she gently stated while pulling out her wand, "I want to try something."

Saito eyed the wand warily, "You sure you want to make an explosion down here? Explosions and caves don't mix all that well."

Louise could understand Saito's hesitation. Unlike her tormentors at the Academy, his statements were born not out of malice but genuine concern for their wellbeing, and so she didn't take offense.

"Just a tiny one to remove the rock," she clarified. At his skeptical look, she blushed slightly and pouted. "I've been practicing!"

"I know, but…" Upon seeing her expression, Saito sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Fine. But, if its all the same to you, let's not be near the blast zone."

"Of course. I'm not stupid," Louise scoffed before the two backed a ways into their corridor, releasing Espirit and Maindo as a precautionary measure. When the two Psychic-types indicated that they were a safe enough distance away, Louise closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Remember, girly. Think small," Derflinger gently advised. "You put too much willpower into this, you're going to bring the whole mountain down on our heads."

"I know." Louise focused intensely, feeling a steady trickle of her Void magic flow into her focus. Working to keep the flow contained, she opened her eyes and aimed at the rock wall before them. "Rock Smash."

At Louise's chant, a small, cherry bomb-like explosion suddenly rang out against the rock wall, cracking it slightly. A pregnant pause ensued as everyone watched it with baited breath, their eyes twitching between it and the ceiling above them, only for the rock wall to collapse into a pile of rubble. When no other cracks emerged, everyone smiled.

"Yes! It worked!" Louise cheered, only to see hear the faint snickers coming from around her, and she straightened herself. "I mean, of course it did. Everything went as planned."

"Right, right," Saito smiled as he pulled out the excavation equipment. "By the way, I couldn't help but notice the chant you made. 'Rock Smash,' was it? Isn't that a Pokémon move?"

"Yes, actually," Louise answered while pulling out her own set. "Before you ask, no, I did not copy the move itself. I just decided that, when creating the spells for small, purposeful explosions, it would be easier to name them after Pokémon moves."

"Hmm. Yeah, that makes sense," Saito nodded before smiling. "So, you made your own spell? That pretty cool!"

"Thank you! Granted, it was more of a modification of how I kept doing 'Fireball', but even modifying a spell is considered difficult. I'm one of only two students at the Academy who even know how."

"Who's the other?"

"A Gallian named Tabitha. Top of our class, but outside of her hanging around Kirche some reason, don't really know anything else about her."

"Hmm," Saito hummed as he reached the wall. He looked towards Maindo and Espirit and nodded. The two Psychic-types nodded back, then gently lifted the rubble and deposit it into a large pile behind them, leaving only the fragile rock wall in front of them. Saito smiled at them, then turned to face the wall and nodded to himself.

"Say, how about we make this into a game?" he suddenly suggested, piquing Louise's curiosity. "Whoever finds the most stuff wins, and the loser has to buy dinner tonight."

Louise looked at him then smirked, "Alright, you're on. I'll have you know that I have very fine tastes."

Rather than respond, Saito merely laughed, to which Louise joined him in laughter. After a few more moments, the two refocused, placed some lights onto the walls and floors around them, and began hammering away at the wall, hoping to expose whatever secrets it might hold.

* * *

The duo spent the next few hours carefully excavating the walls around them, the piles of rubble slowly accumulating more and more mass as they cleared away any rock. Anything they managed to find they placed into separate piles next to them. Neither had managed to find any fossils of Pokémon, but they had excavated several gemstones of various shapes and sizes.

Louise's pile was also slightly larger than Saito's, something she was more than willing to point out.

"So, for our dinner tonight," she listed off with unashamed grin on her face, "I want something fancy and high class, befitting a noble such as myself."

"Uh-huh," Saito dully responded as he continued to excavate, which only served to make Louise's smile widen.

"Oh, and it needs to be formal! We can use the dress and suit the Battle Chateau was kind enough to let us keep."

"Sure."

"I'm thinking seafood. I saw a nice looking restaurant in town. Perhaps that could work?"

"Whatever you say."

"Are you even paying attention?"

"You want a nice, formal, seafood dinner tonight while wearing our formal clothes, yes."

"Oh. Well, good. Thank you."

Saito grunted in response while continuing to excavate, allowing Louise the chance to continue her own. As she scraped away at a rock, she exposed more of what she had been working on for the past ten minutes: a small fossil of some kind of plant. She hadn't the faintest idea of what species it belong to, but she was still proud of herself for finding it in the first place. Louise then wiped away a sheen of sweat on her forehead with her damp scarf, heat of the cave getting to her slightly. As she did, her eyes drifted towards the single largest finding either of them had found so far, a crystal sphere with a waved spiral pattern in the center. She knew what it was, recognizing it as a Mega Stone. Exactly what kind, she did not know, but almost as soon as she found it had she insisted Saito take over its excavation. She still vividly remembered the last time she had contact with a Mega Stone. Her body apparently acted as a Key Stone, meaning that there was a chance of an accidental Mega Evolution neither of them wanted. Still, even though Saito had been the one to get it out, they both considered it to be part of her findings.

Louise then sighed, shaking her thoughts out of her head, then refocused on excavating her leaf fossil.

"So, Saito. After I'm done with this, do you want to head back up? It should be getting dark soon."

"Yeah, sure. Just as soon as I'm finished with this thing. I don't know what it is, but I think it's big."

"You've been working on that for the past hour. You're not done with it, yet?" Louise asked, taking out a hammer and chisel to gently finish her excavation.

"Yep. This rock is _big_ , but also fragile. I think something may be hidden on the other side."

Louise hummed as she finished carefully removing the fossil, then proceeded to place it into a plastic zip-lock bag. She then made her way over to Saito in order to see his progress. She could see the dull orange of the rock he was working on. It was indeed much larger than anything else they had found thus far, easily the size of his head. She could see how it would warrant his interest, and so she grabbed her own tools and kneeled down next to him.

"Want some help?" she offered, and Saito nodded.

"Sure, just…be careful. I have a good feeling about this one."

"I can see why."

The two continued their excavation silently and gently, each working together to remove more and more of the surrounding rock. The whirling of drill bits and dull thuds of hammers striking chisels filled their cavern, while Espirit and Maindo worked to not only keep the rock safely intact but also remove any excess rubble from around them. They only stopped once they felt the rock come loose, at which point they placed their tools to the side and gently began removing it from the wall.

"Gently, gently," Saito urged as the four of them lifted it out of the wall and place it on the ground, leaving a hole in the wall where it once rested. Louise closed her eyes and sighed, relieved that it was finally over.

"Good, now its out of there," she muttered, her eyes still closed. "Now we can—"

"Holy shit…" Saito gasped, causing Louise to open her eyes and stare down at the hole in the wall. Her eyes widened at what she saw embedded into its center. Espirit and Maindo teleported onto their trainers' respective shoulders to get a better look, and both of them stared in amazement.

Embedded in the center of the rock, shown for the first time in millions of years, was a single jawbone of a carnivorous Pokémon.

* * *

"Alright! Break time, everyone!" the camp cook yelled out from the excavation site. The scientists sighed in relief as the covered the fossils with tarps and began climbing out of their holes, the smell of hot food guiding them towards the dinner area. Alan Grant wiped his dirtied hands on a wet cloth before turning towards a young man arriving on a Gogoat.

"You understand what to do, right? Take this to Ellie Sattler at the Ambrette Fossil museum," he said while handing the boy a parcel in manila paper. The boy gingerly took them and smiled.

"Of course, Doctor. We've been through this before," he pointed out.

"I know, Calem, but it always helps to make sure."

Calem smiled and placed the parcel into his satchel. "Don't worry. She'll get those research findings. I'll be off soon, just have to make a few more deliveries around here before I head out."

Doctor Grant bid the courier farewell and watched as the boy began walking off towards the outskirts of camp, handing off packages to their designated recipients. He moved to go towards the mess hall, only for a Honedge to fly out of Glittering Cave and make a beeline straight towards him.

"Doctor Grant!" it suddenly spoken, surprising the paleontologist slightly but only for a moment. Recognizing it as the one that came in with the two trainers, he suddenly grew alarmed.

"Yes, what is it? Is something wrong?"

"No, we found something you might want to take a look at." At the Honedge's declaration, Grant's worry was replaced by curiosity, and several scientists within earshot perked their heads up towards the two of them. A few even got out of their seats and began walking over.

"Alright then. Let's take a look."

* * *

The Honedge, who called himself Derflinger, led the assembled team of paleontologists down into the cavern towards Saito and Louise. They found the two of them waiting in front of their site, and led both to a hole in the wall. One look at the fossil inside, and soon the entire cavern was awash in activity as more and more paleontologists began pouring in with excavation tools.

"We didn't even know this part of the cave had fossils in here," Grant mused while looking over the leaf fossil Louise had found. Behind him, a team of paleontologists were busy carefully extracting the jaw fossil from its resting place. "You kids did good."

"Thank you. It was Saito who found it," Louise pointed out, and the boy smiled while rubbing the back of his head.

"That so? Well then, Saito, that means the jaw fossil belongs to you."

"Do you know what it is?" he asked excitedly, but before Grant could answer, a series of shouts from behind them redirected his attention.

"Doctor, we got it!" one of the paleontologists exclaimed, causing himself, Saito, and Louise to walk over.

"Careful! Careful!" Grant urged as the team removed the fossil from the wall. They did so, then moved the fossil to a hastily set up white table. Grant hovered over it, humming to himself while using his finger to direct his attention.

"Carnivorous, clearly. Look at the teeth and jawline. This thing was built for crushing and tearing," he stated. "Jaw's bulky, so bite strength must have been large to compensate. Maybe…"

"What do you think it is?" Saito asked, and Grant smiled.

"Kid, what you got here is the fossilized jawbone of a Tyrunt," he answered, and Saito gasped.

"A Tyrunt? Really?"

"Yep," Grant answered. "Back when they were still alive, southern Kalos was their main range. But one this pristine is rare. It's a great find."

"You might want to take it up to the fossil museum," another scientist suggested. "Might have enough DNA for a revival."

Saito stared wide-eyed at the two of them for a moment then smiled like a young kid. Gingerly, he took the fossil and placed it into a box, then sealed it shut.

"Thank you, Doctor," he got out, and Grant smiled.

"Don't mention it. Now, if you excuse me, we have to prepare this site for excavations. Who knows what we might find down here."

"Of course, sir." Louise bowed then led herself and Saito out of the cave, leaving the paleontologists behind. Saito continued to look at the box he was holding, careful to make sure it wasn't damaged in any way, and Louise couldn't help but smile to herself.

"So, what are you going to do with it?" she asked, and Saito looked at her.

"You kidding? I'm going to get it revived. Who wouldn't want a dinosaur Pokémon?"

"True, but whatever happened to waiting for the egg to hatch?"

"That was before I found out I could possibly get a Tyrunt."

"Fair enough," Louise conceded as they exited the cave. The sun was beginning to set, casting the mountain range in a dull orange of dusk. "I'll call for a Rhyhorn. You stay here."

"Sure thing," Saito replied as he sat down onto a nearby chair. Louise kept going, eventually reaching the nearby riding station. There were no Rhyhorns currently available, causing her to frown.

"Having trouble?" Louise suddenly heard someone ask her, causing her to turn around to look at a young boy slightly older than she was. He was wearing a blue jacket with white trim, a red hat atop his head and brown hiking boots that covered the bottoms of his blue jeans.

"Yes, actually," Louise answered with a sigh. "My friend and I just found a fossil in Glittering Cave, and we hoping to get it to the museum before it closed tonight."

"And the Rhyhorn Station just left," the boy realized and looked down the rocky path. He hummed to himself, taping his chin before turning back to face Louise. "I'm Calem, by the way."

"Louise," she introduced herself, and the two shook hands. "What brought you here? Are you a trainer, too?"

"Nah, just a courier. Did my League circuit years ago," Calem answered. "I take it you and your friend are doing the League challenge?"

"Yes, we are. Had to make a detour to Ambrette after the cave in."

"Ah, nasty business over there. Luckily, my sister and I managed to get through it just before it collapsed."

"That's good," Louise said before sitting down, intending to wait until the Rhyhorn returned. Calem watched her before turning his attention to the balls on his belt, and an idea sprang into his mind.

"You know," he started, directing her attention, "I actually have a few Pokémon on hand would be able to traverse the path. If you and your friend want, I could escort you two down. Would be a lot faster than waiting for a Rhyhorn."

Louise stared at him for a moment, thinking over his offer. After a few moments, she smiled and stood up.

"That would be grand, actually. Thank you, Calem."

"No problem at all. Now, let's go get your friend and get on out of here."

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Some interesting stuff happened here, and we continue to hope you guys all enjoy!

Now for the Q&A:

 **Drewd00d** : Don't worry about it, man. I get it, holiday season is tough. I myself found it tough to write for this or my RWBY/DC Crossover Hunters of Justice, so I can understand. Anyway, yes. We decided that now was a good time to speed things up a bit. There really was no reason to show Saito and Louise hiking down to Ambrette, and to do show would ultimately be more filler. We could do bonding, training, and other sections of a similar nature in town, as we showed. We're going to be doing more of that in the future. Trim down the fat, as it were. Now, that isn't to say that we're going to be abandoning traveling sections, far from it. It's just that each one will be serving a purpose, rather than simply taking up space.

As for Flare being isolated into cells, we felt it was both interesting and realistic. If a big criminal organization, like Flare, fell apart, you'd have survivors band together into more isolated cells. Some obviously more organized than others. It also affords us to make each Flare encounter more unique, as each cell has different tactics, as you said.

For the Jurassic Park references, those were just for fun. The setting was a museum where they take DNA from fossil to resurrect long extinct creatures. The parallels were there, and I had to take them.

Extinction thing was my goof, and I apologize for that. Just chalk it up to Louise having a brain fart.

 **guest, maclinharmon, KingofthePen25, Dragon Naruto, NexusPrime42, Krulla** **Chief** : I'm glad you guys liked the Jurassic Park refences! As I said before, they were just for good fun. I had an opening there with the setting, and I felt like I had to do it. Almost obligated to, really.

Anyway, that's it for this chapter. See you guys next time!


	40. Season 1, Episode 9, Chapter 3

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 9, Chapter 3**

[~][~]

"Thanks again for giving us a ride back, Calem," Saito said as he and Louise followed their new friend. Calem smiled without turning around and waved.

"Don't mention it. I have more than enough Pokémon for all of us," he replied as they started on the rocky path down. Pausing, Calem pulled out two Pokéballs from his belt and threw them, where they coalesced into two separate Pokémon, neither of which Saito or Louise had seen thus far. The first appeared to be a goat with green leaves growing around its body, while the other was a large brown and orange equine with black, braided hair handing off of its mane. The two trainers immediately paused to grab their Pokédexes and scanned the two Pokémon.

" _Gogoat, the Mount Pokémon and the evolved form of Skiddo. Hailing from the mountains of Kalos, Gogoats have long been used to traverse Kalos' rough terrains. They are noted to be highly empathic creatures, and if anything grabs their horns, the Gogoat can sense their feelings. This made the relationship between rider and Gogoat unsurpassed throughout the Pokémon world. It is also noted that, until the arrival of Ponytas and Rapidashes from the Kanto region, Gogoats were the primary mounts of Kalos for both commercial and military purposes,_ " Louise's Pokédex declared. She briefly thought about Gogoat-mounted cavalry, and the image made her chuckle.

" _Mudsdale, the Draft Horse Pokémon and the evolved form of Mudbray. Hailing from the Alolan Archipelago, Mudsdales are among the largest equine Pokémon. More suited for heavy lifting than speed, unlike their cousins, the Ponyta and Blitzle lines, Mudsdales can carry objects weighing ten tons for three days straight without rest nor complaint. They are very tranquil Pokémon, and as such are popular in family ranches,_ " Saito's Pokédex sounded off at the same time. Humming to himself, Saito pocketed his Pokédex and eyed the Pokémon inquisitively, taking into account what he had just learned.

"Hmm, I can see why you'd have a Gogoat and Mudsdale to go up mountains. What exactly do you do, again?"

"I'm a courier. My job is to deliver packages and letters to areas of the region the normal postal system can't easily get to. Like Glittering Cave, for example," Calem answered as he mounted his Gogoat, directing Saito and Louise to climb on top of Mudsdale. The equine patiently kneeled down to allow the two easier access, but even then it was hard for Saito to climb up. Louise, having prior experience, had no issue, and quickly pulled him up.

"Thanks," Saito stated as he settled in, then turned his attention back towards Calem. "So, back to what you were saying, you were here to deliver a package? What kind of package?"

"Just a few care packages and research notes, nothing major. To be honest, I was just about to leave when I heard about the fossil find in the cave. Then I stuck around to see what all the commotion was about. Nice find, by the way."

"Thank you."

With a gentle push, Calem then began to direct his Gogoat down the mountain, his Mudsdale following after him. As they traversed the rough terrain, Louise couldn't help but note how different the experience was compared to riding the Rhyhorn. It was much more comfortable, for starters, and smooth as well. Louise and Saito hardly bounced on each of the equine's heavy footsteps, although the sound they made as they broke apart rocks was grating to her ears. True to the Pokédex's word, their mount was clearly not built for speed. The Rhyhorn was slightly faster, although the fact that they were going down the mountain did negate that slowdown tremendously.

Calem's Gogoat, on the other hand, was a much different story. One that Louise was relieved not to be experiencing, seeing how the goat was bouncing nimbly from rock to rock. It never missed a step and was clearly the faster of the two, yet it also carefully maintained a close proximity to them. Saito personally found the sight of a bounding Gogoat on the mountainside to be fun.

"So, Calem," Louise called out, "You said you were a trainer before?"

"Yeah, back when I was ten," Calem responded with a smile. "Stayed one for a few years and participated in the Kalos and Unova circuits. Even took a vacation in Alola, which is where I got Mudsdale from, back when he was still a Mudbray."

Mudsdale grunted in response to being acknowledged, and Louise couldn't help but smile and scratch behind his ears. Mudsdale then leaned his head towards her fingers, and she chuckled while continuing to scratch.

"Wow, that's pretty cool," Saito admitted. "I had a late start, as you can probably tell. This is my first year on the circuit."

"No kidding? Let me guess, family obligations?"

"Yep. Parents kept having to move with their job. I had just started my journey in Unova when we moved to Kalos, but the League here allowed me to continue where I left off."

Calem nodded, knowing the likely reason as to why the Kalos League allowed it to begin with. They were desperate to get participants this year. He then turned his attention towards Louise, noticing that she appeared to be slightly younger then Saito himself. By about a year, if he had to guess.

"So, what about you, Louise?"

"Hmm?" she said before straightening herself. "Well, I had recently came into the region from my home country and into the care of Professor Sycamore. I then became his assistant and after a…mishap involving the transportation of a Beedrillite to Viola Pansy—"

"She means she tried to deliver the mega-stone to her in a Pokémon-filled forest when she could have just waited for her, which ended in the two of us having to outrun a Beedrill swarm," Saito clarified with a blank expression, causing Calem to stare in shock and Louise to blush heavily. Seeing how Saito began to chuckle, Calem's expression softened, and he chuckled with Louise cutely glared at her friend before clearing her throat.

"ANYWAY, there I met Saito and ultimately decided to take on the Pokémon League. I've been on the road ever since."

"That's neat," Calem said earnestly. "I myself managed to get to the top sixteen in my first year, and the top eight in my second."

"That's really impressive, actually. Most rookie trainers don't make it that far," Saito noted, and Calem nodded.

"Yep. I take it as a source of pride that the person who beat me ended up being Diantha."

"Wait, Diantha? As in the Kalos Champion, Diantha?"

"Yep. She kicked my ass, too. Even back then, she was a monster on the battlefield. Barely lasted ten minutes."

Saito winced at the timescale, then looked back at Calem. "So, why'd you decide to stop traveling and become a courier?"

"Family, really. Same as you. My dad was a courier, had to travel all across the region and would be gone for weeks or even months at a time. When my little sister Joceline was born, I decided to stay and help my mom raise her. After a while, when my dad decided to retire a few years later, I ended up taking his place. Been a courier ever since."

Louise could respect Calem's decision. Thoughts of Louise's family then drifted into the rosecrown's head, and she frowned.

' _I wonder how they're doing?_ ' she thought, wondering whether the Academy had let her family know what happened to her. It had been a little over two months since she arrived in Kalos, and she could only assume what had happened in Tristain during her absence. If she had to guess, the Academy likely would have gone into lockdown after she disappeared, preventing anyone from sending or receiving communications from the outside world in order to prevent the noble families from panicking. That would only keep her family out of the loop for a short time, but the question after that remained a mystery to her. A dark part of her mind even wondered if anyone would try to figure out what happened to her, but she quickly pushed that aside.

Right now, she had a much bigger thing to worry about: Saito's finding of the Jaw Fossil managed to put him ahead in their little contest, which meant she now had to buy both of them dinner. She was not looking forward to that, but her pride as a noble meant she had to honor their wager.

The trio continued to talk among themselves for the next two hours as they made their way down the mountain. The sun was beginning to set by the time they finally reached the city limits, and as they dismounted Calem returned both of his Pokémon.

"Well, it was nice meeting you two," he stated while shaking Saito's then Louise's hand. "I'm off to the Pokémon center. I imagine you guys are heading off to the museum?"

"We are. Gotta get this fossil revived," Saito answered with an excited look on his face, and Calem couldn't help but smile back.

"I'm sure that Tyrunt will be in good hands. I'll see you guys later!"

"Bye, Calem! Thanks once again for the ride," Louise declared as the courier began to walk off.

"Don't mention it!" he called back as he walked further and further down the street. Saito and Louise saw him off for a little while longer, then turned to walk in the opposite direction towards the Ambrette Fossil Museum. As they did, Saito couldn't help but glance at the container he held in his hands, and Louise smiled.

"So, what are you going to name it?" she asked, knocking Saito out of his stupor. He took a moment to collect his thoughts, then shrugged.

"Honestly, I don't know yet. Something regal, though. From what I learned in school, the Tyrunt line was considered to be the king of the ancient Pokémon world."

"That makes sense. I'm sure you'll come up with something."

Saito smiled at her answer, and Louise smiled back. Derflinger maintained his silence, content to simply watch the two teenagers enjoy their company. They soon came upon the entrance to the museum. It appeared to be much less populated than earlier in the day, something which Louise and Saito chalked up to being in the evening. Yet, as soon as they entered the building they were accosted by several scientists working in the museum, including Dr. Sattler.

"Do you have the fossil?" she asked excitedly, and Saito barely had time to indicate it was inside the container before it was carefully snatched out of his hands by the paleobotanist, who then handed it to another scientist. "Take this to the revival room right away."

"Yes, ma'am," he said before quickly shuffling off behind a room marked 'Employees Only.' As the door shut behind them, the two trainers turned back to Ellie Sattler, who looked positively giddy.

"Dr. Grant called ahead as you two were heading down. Saito, you made an incredible find, and not just your Tyrunt fossil. Mr. Hammond has already agreed to provide funding for future digs at the site!"

"That's amazing!" Saito exclaimed with stars in his eyes. Sattler nodded, then recomposed herself and directed the two teenagers to follow her. She led them to a nearby office, where she sat down on a leather chair and gestured for them to sit across from her.

"Now, luckily, we had managed to revive Grant's Aerodactyl before Alan called in your find, so we'll be able to direct our full attention to reviving your Tyrunt. However, the revival process still takes time."

"How long?" Louise asked, her question borne out of both curiosity and mild impatience.

"Not too long. Just a little over a day."

"A _day_? You're able to extract sixty-five million-year-old fossil DNA and successfully clone from that DNA in a little over a _day_?" Louise couldn't hide the surprise form her face, neither could Saito for that matter, and Ellie quickly began to speak.

"It did use to take longer, but we've managed to improve the process over the years. Had the DNA been in a more concentrated state, such as in amber, we'd be able to get it done in a few hours, but it takes longer for normal fossils."

"That…still doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but you know more than I do," Saito admitted.

"I'm glad you understand. I'll call you on your Pokédexes once the fossil is revived. Until then, may I suggest that you two take a look around Ambrette Town? We have a lot of interesting places for young teenagers like yourselves."

"We will. Thank you," Louise stated as she and Saito got out of their seats. They then shook the paleobotanist's hand then walked out of the museum. As they did, they then began walking towards their hotel, Saito walking with his hands behind his head. After a few moments of comfortable silence, Saito then smirked.

"Well, I for one know what we're doing first," he said with a victorious smile, and Louise groaned.

"… Where do you want to go?" she asked, anticipating having to go to some low-class diner.

"In all honesty, I haven't had seafood in a while. How about we go to that Red Crawdaunt over by the beach?"

Louise thought about it for a moment then nodded. "That sounds wonderful, actually."

The two continued walking along the streets of Ambrette Town, the twilight sun casting everything in an orange glow. Their hotel was close to the northern city limits within walking distance of the beach, which afforded them a spectacular view of the setting sun over the ocean. They paused for a moment to take it in, breathing in the salty air, when they noticed an Onix resting near the entrance to the Muraille Coast. Recognizing the Rock Snake Pokémon as Grant's, the two walked over and saw the Gym Leader checking his bags.

"Grant, you're leaving already?" Saito called out, drawing Grant's attention. Upon seeing the two trainers, he smiled then nodded.

"Yes, actually. I only came down here to get the amber inspected. Now that the Pokémon inside's been revived, I have to head to head back to Cyllage," he answered with an apologetic shrug. "Duty calls."

"I can understand that," Louise admitted. "We're actually staying another day."

"I heard about that. Something about you finding a Pokémon fossil, right, Saito?"

"Yeah, a Tyrunt jawbone, actually."

"No kidding? I have a Tyrunt myself. They're great Pokémon. I'm certain you and it will be great for each other."

"Thank you." Saito laughed. "Who knows? Maybe I face you with it."

Grant smiled. "Maybe. Well, whatever happens, I'm looking forward to facing both of you."

"Same here," Louise said with a confident smile. Grant smiled back, then shook both of the trainer's hands.

"Work hard, you two, and don't hold back. Because I certainly won't," Grant declared as he mounted his Onix. The Rock Snake bellowed deeply before shuffling off down the beach, careful not to disturb the pavement beneath him until he reached the soft sands, at which point he took off at his top speed. Saito and Louise waved him goodbye before turning around and making their way back towards their hotel, thoughts of potential strategies running through their heads. Although Louise knew she had improved, she was also not about to rest on her laurels and attempt to coast to victory.

She only hoped that her strategies would be enough.

* * *

When the two trainers finally reached their hotel room, they quickly released their Pokémon and went back outside towards the restaurant. When they arrived, they luckily hadn't had to wait long before a waitress took them to their booth. Taking their menus in hand, the two browsed while continuing to converse.

"Personally, I say we go to the beach. It's been years since I've been, and Ambrette's supposed to have some of the best in the region," Saito suggested as he eyed their selection.

"I read that, too," Louise replied as she looked over her menu, "I still would like to go to the aquarium, though."

"We can do both," he replied. "You know, while we're on the subject, what are the beaches and oceans of your home like?"

"Largely unexplored," Louise admitted, "mostly due to the giant sea monsters making most ocean travel difficult if not impossible. Which is why we have airships."

"Airships? Like, flying galleons and what-not? How does that work?" he quietly asked, not wanting others to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"We mine windstones, rocks imbued with wind magic, to use as fuel to lift ships off the ground. Albion has some of the largest sources of them, which helps support their massive navy."

"Isn't that the flying island?"

"Yes. Been like that since Brimir's time, at the least."

"Hmm, that must be an amazing sight."

"It truly was…" Louise sighed. "It's embroiled in a civil war, now. Traitorous nobles and 'republicans' trying to usurp the crown, and what worries me is that they're winning. If they do, they might try to invade Tristain next."

"Ah, so they're _those_ type of revolutionaries," Saito nodded, knowing that quite a few existed in Earth's history as well.

"Indeed." Louise went back to studying her menu then placed it down on the table, having selected her meal for the evening. Wanting to change the subject, she cleared her thought and waited for Saito to select what he would eat. When he finally placed his menu down, she smiled. "Thanks for choosing this place, by the way. It's nice."

"No problem." He then smirked confidently. "Thank you for paying for it."

"You're not going to let that one go, are you?"

"No. I think I'll have it commemorated and framed to put on my wall," Saito said while dramatically waving his outstretched arm. Louise glared at him for a moment then giggled, causing Saito to smile.

"You know, Saito? You aren't so bad," she jokingly admitted.

"You, too. I daresay you just might be tolerable," Saito replied, causing Louise to smile and shake her head.

When the waitress finally arrived to take their order, the two quickly relayed to her exactly what they wanted then went back to what they were doing before.

* * *

From the balcony of their hotel room, Derflinger watched as Saito and Louise had a good time together in the restaurant. He wouldn't pretend to know exactly what they were talking about, and he didn't particularly care about the specifics, but he could still see them laughing and talking. Nodding to himself with a knowing look in his eye, he turned around and floated back into the room where he saw Tanuki soothing the egg with his Aura-covered paws.

"How's it lookin'?" the Honedge asked the Riolu, and Tanuki looked towards him.

" _Some progress, not much though. Not going to hatch for a while. Maybe a month at this rate_ ," he revealed, and Espirit nodded to confirm his guess.

' _But, the two of us did try to look into what's developing inside, and we think it's a girl.'_

Tengu briefly looked up at the mention of another girl Pokémon joining their team before doing an approximation of a shrug and going back to drinking her dinner of mineral water. She closed her eyes and sighed contently, pointedly ignoring a fuming Maindo who had once again failed to get a rise out of her.

' _Honestly, what does it take to get you to react,_ ' he fumed while crossing his arms. From the corner of her eye, Tengu looked at him then shrugged, causing the Ralts to scowl and stomp away. The other Pokémon chuckled at this, causing him to frown further.

" _Oh, lighten up, Maindo! Don't be such a sourpuss!_ " Aile chastised. Maindo stared at the Fletchling then at the book she was standing on. A moment later, the book was ripped out from under her legs, and Aile quickly fluttered onto the desk.

" _Really?_ " she asked while Maindo snickered. Ronin watched as Maindo went to a far off corner and sighed, shaking his head in disappointment before turning back towards the city below, illuminated by fluorescent street lamps, neon signs, and the light of the full moon. He could see Louise and Saito continuing to eat, having a great time, while the lights were on in the museum. Ronin eyed the museum with curiosity, knowing that the scientists were hard at work inside to revive his next teammate. He couldn't lie and say he wasn't excited. That wasn't to say he didn't quite understand how they were able to do it, but he also couldn't understand how Louise was able to do her explosions or why Maindo was still acting like an ass.

He had learned to stop trying to get answers to those types of questions a while ago.

"Hey, Ronin, what are you doing over there? You're missing out on, what is this called again?" Derflinger asked.

" _The Pyroar King,_ " Espirit answered.

"Yeah, that."

Ronin moved to answer when he saw a dark, quadrupedal figure standing on a far-away building. He squinted his eyes and tried to focus, only for the figure to leap away before he could make it out.

" _What was…_ " he wondered before the sounds of wild Bouffalant stampeding came from the tv. He turned back towards the city to try and spy the figure once more, and when he couldn't find it, he shrugged then walked back to the others. Sitting down on a bed, he let his mind relax and watched the animated movie continue, allowing thoughts of the mysterious figure to subside.

* * *

In an open-air Alolan restaurant on the beach, numerous diners enjoyed the food and drink under the moonlight. Some chatted with friend or family, others listened to music on their phones, while many others simply ignored everything outside of their personal space. An overweight man wearing an Alolan shirt greedily downed his fried seafood, a slice of pie lying in wait next to it, seemingly obvious to all.

Had anyone been paying attention, they would have seen that his attention was evenly divided among his food as well as the entrance to the restaurant. When two people walked in, a man and a woman wearing casual clothes, the overweight man perked up and waved him over.

"Carnegie!" he shouted. The woman silently scoffed as she and Carnegie walked over and sat on chairs across from him.

"Nedry, I told you not to say my name in public," Carnegie told him, and Nedry rolled his eyes. He then looked around frantically while pointing at the man.

"Carnegie! We got Carnegie, here!" he announced, Carnegie staring at the man unamused. Seeing how none of the other patrons even lifted their heads, Nedry looked at Carnegie with a knowing look and scoffed.

"See, nobody cares," he smugly replied while taking off the man's hat. "Nice hat. You trying to look like an INTERPOL agent?"

Rather than dignify the man with a response, Carnegie leaned over and stared him in the eye. "Nedry, don't play games with me. Not now."

"No, I think _you_ should stop playing games," Nedry shot back. "Your plan just got a lot more complicated, thanks to your friends over at the daycare. You blowing up half of the Muraille Mountains only made things worse."

"We weren't even connected to the daycare and-…," Carnegie groaned and rubbed his forehead. "What all has changed?"

"Grant, the _Gym Leader_ of Cyllage City, apparently found an amber containing Aerodactyl DNA thanks to the cave-in and brought it down to be revived. While he was here, he told Sattler he was afraid the museum might be next, which she believed. So now they've up and beefed security."

"Arceus dammit," Carnegie cursed and clenched his fist, the woman pointedly staring at him. Carnegie looked back at the woman then back at Nedry. He knew what Nedry was silently telling him: the museum knew they were coming, and their window of opportunity had long since passed. Time to cut their losses and run. Part of Carnegie agreed with him. Their plan to steal fossils and equipment from the fossil museum was high-risk-high-reward from the beginning, and the actions of the Lumiose cell certainly put his cell in a bind. But at the same time, he couldn't just abandon the plan altogether. They had spent too much time and money into setting it up, much of it securing the cooperation of the fat slob in front of him.

Carnegie then sighed and made his decision. "We're going forward with the plan."

"Alright, but I want my payout doubled," Nedry immediately countered. The woman sharply turned her head to stare at him while Carnegie settled for merely glaring. Nonplussed, Nedry continued, "It's either that or I don't turn off the security systems, and you and I both know you aren't getting in there without me. So, take it or leave it."

Carnegie continued to glare at the fat man and growled, " _Fine_ , we'll double your pay."

"Thank you." Nedry smiled before spreading some whipped cream on his slice of pie. "I'll take care of everything. Just get your men ready tomorrow night."

Carnegie and the woman stood up without a word and walked away, leaving Nedry behind. He and the woman continued to walk away before reaching a dark alley, which they then pulled into to avoid any unwanted attention.

"CZ, rally the men. We attack tomorrow night once Nedry gives the signal." CZ tiled her head at him, and Carnegie sighed. "No, I trust that fat man as much as I can throw him, but like it or not we need him to get in. If we _try_ to kill him after we're done, no one will ever work with us again, so we have to put up with him. Now go."

CZ nodded at him then walked away, her heels clacking against the pavement as she disappeared into a cloud of steam. Carnegie watched then placed his hands into his coat pocket before walking away the opposite direction.

There was another reason why he chose to go forward with the plan. There were words being spoken behind his back among the Flare operatives he was in charge of, about how he was incompetent and not doing his job effectively. He was losing their respect, and a criminal leader can only rule based on fear or respect. He couldn't do fear, so if he lost their respect, he was done. Perhaps more than anything else, if he wanted to keep his position as the head of Team Flare's Ambrette Town cell, he needed to prove he had what it takes.

' _This has to work_ ,' he thought as he passed by a young man walking his rosecrown date home.

Unbeknownst to him, his every step was being watched by a lone quadruped, watching his every move from the very alley he had walked out of. A group of people walked past the alley, obscuring it completely from view, and when they passed, it was gone without a trace.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! I hope you all enjoy it!

Q&A:

 **Boyzilla** : I'm glad you found us! We're happy to have you, and I'm also happy that you're enjoying the story so much. Reverse Summons are also extremely enjoyable to me, offers more freedom to do whatever I wanted, and the development you see is a key part of that.

 **Engineer4Ever** : Indeed, who wouldn't want a dino? Saito's decision is completely understandable in that instance.

 **MBenz4268** : We thought about it, but we ultimately decided that a Fossil Pokemon would better serve Saito rather than Louise. Don't worry, though. She's not getting neglected.

 **fangs of death** : Oh, he's getting it revived. What happens next, though, you'll have to wait and see.

That's all for this chapter. I hope you all enjoy! See you next time!


	41. Season 1, Episode 9, Chapter 4

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 9, Chapter 4**

[~][~]

During Louise's initial shopping spree before leaving for Santalune, one of the items Sycamore had insisted she purchase was a swimsuit. His reasoning was that she might need the garment should she decide to go swimming, either at a pool, in a river or lake, or along one of Kalos' many pristine beaches. At the time, she felt the suggestion was logical, and had readily agreed. At least until she saw what the people of Kalos considered swimwear. Far from the loose robes of home, Kalosians appeared to be quite content with showing much of their bare skin for everyone to see while wearing swimsuits. Many of the options practically looked like undergarments to her.

The fact that Sycamore only laughed when she pointed that out made irritated her somewhat.

In the end, she had chosen a simple red and white one-piece swimsuit, complete with red-trimmed goggles and red-and-white water shoes to complete the set. Saito himself had on him a pair of blue swim trunks with a white band along the center of the legs, blue-trimmed goggles, and blue-and-black water shoes. After they had changed and packed some supplies into loose hangs they hung over their backs, the pair set forth towards the beach. The morning sun was rising over the ocean, the light reflecting off the waves in a cascading gleam that was quite striking to behold. It also hurt slightly to look at, forcing Saito and Louise to wear a round and pointed pair of sunglasses, respectively.

When they finally arrived at the beach, they noticed a few beachgoers already there, with more trickling in at every moment. Some were lounging in the sun, others playing with Pokémon in a wide array of activities and sports. Louise could even see a few snorkelers poking their heads out from the waves, and her mind raced with the possibilities.

"How long did they say it would take to revive the Tyrunt, again?" she asked.

"Should be done sometime tonight, ready for pickup in the morning," Saito answered while laying out some beach towels for them to lay on. Thanking him for the action, Louise pulled her Luxury Balls out of her knapsack and released her Pokémon, Saito doing the same for his. The Pokémon stretched and yawned, feeling the sun's rays warm them up, and they smiled.

"So we have the whole day, then," Louise noted with a nod. Humming to herself, she began to tap her chin in thought, only for those thoughts to be broken upon hearing Saito chuckle.

"Louise, relax," he advised. "Today's an off-day. No need to plan everything out. Let's just have fun and do whatever comes to mind."

"I…" Louise sighed then nodded. "Yes, you're right. So, anything you want to do, first?"

"Personally, I'd to go swimming," Saito suggested while taking off his shirt and throwing it onto his towel, along with his sunglasses. Before Louise had a chance to speak up, Saito had already taken off down the beach and into the waves, the water breaking against him as he swam further out.

"SAITO!" Louise shouted indignantly, to which Saito laughed.

"Come on, Slowpoke! The water's fine!" he shouted back with a laugh. Louise starred at him for a moment then sighed. She gently placed her sunglasses on her towel, then turned to face Brennaraki to see the Fennekin had partially burrowed herself into the warm sand.

"Brennaraki, you're in charge," she declared, and the Fennekin yipped in affirmation. Louise then took off at a far more dignified pace to join her friend, wading into ocean next to him. She found the water to be surprisingly warm, a far cry from the cool waters of Tristain's beaches, and quickly decided that she liked it.

"So, care for a swim?" Saito coyly asked, and Louise smiled back.

"I'd love to."

* * *

As the pair swam beneath the gentle waves, they were both immediately assured that their decision to purchase goggles was a good one. Sprawling across the ground was a vast coral reef, brimming with a multitude of colors and species of animals Pokémon. Schools of fish and Remoraids swam like a living cloud, feeding on tiny plankton while keeping a careful eye on a few curious Carvanhas and Sharpedos eying them hungrily. Nestled along the coral reef were clams and Clampearls, gently opening and closing their shells as Horseas swam above them. A few scattered Octillerys rested on the coral, and off in the distance they could see a lone Mantine swimming near the surface.

' _Wow…_ ' Louise thought to herself as she took it all in. Had she been above the water, she might have even gasped. But, unfortunately, she didn't know the water breathing spell nor did she think she even could use it if she had. Keeping that in mind, Louise swam back up for air, gasping for breath once her head broke the surface. Looking back at the beach, Louise could see how they weren't too far out from it. More beach-goers had joined them at this point, having spent the past few hours simply enjoying the natural scenery underwater. Their Pokémon were still resting over by their towers, with Maindo, Espirit, and for some reason Derflinger having somehow acquired tanning mirrors and were using them to soak in the solar rays. Tanuki was constructing a sandcastle around the buried form of Brennaraki, who appeared to appreciate the hot sands covering her. Aile was currently fighting with some Wingulls over leftovers, and to her surprise, Tengu was sitting near the water's edge, simply staring out into the ocean with wonderous eyes. It was the most emotive she had seen the Seedot been ever since they had met. If she had to guess…

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt something clasp around her leg, and her body went very still. After a moment, sheer panic rippled through her body and with a shrill scream she kicked as hard as she could towards whatever had grabbed her. She felt her foot impact something hard, and a moment later a splash of water erupted next to her. Louise was about to attack it again, only to see Saito clutching his head in slight pain. After a moment of confusion, it dawned on her exactly what had transpired, and she angrily splashed water onto him in retaliation for his little prank.

"Saito, you jerk! You almost gave me a heart attack!" she accused, only to grow more irritated when he started to laugh. "Stop laughing, it's not funny!"

"It kinda is!" Saito countered while continuing to laugh. "Oh, man. I wish I could have seen your face!"

"Grrr…" Louise began to growl, and Saito slowly calmed himself, a mirthful expression never leaving his face. Behind them they could hear the faint sounds of laughing, and without needing to turn around Louise knew it was Saito's Pokémon laughing at her expense. She could hear a faint growl, and then a small Ember, not large enough to do any serious harm, was shot straight over Saito's head, forcing him to duck beneath the waves. When he resurfaced, Louise had a proud look on her face, and she turned to face her starter.

"Good job, Brennaraki," she said, and the still sand-covered Fennekin nodded, her irritated eyes never leaving the suddenly apologetic Saito. Louise continued to smile, only to notice that Ronin was missing. Saito began to notice it, too, and he began to shout towards Derflinger.

"Hey, Derf! Do you know where Ronin went off to?"

"Nope!" he called back. "I think he went for a swim some time ago."

"Okay, thanks!" Saito nodded then turned to face Louise. The look on her face shouted, 'do you want to go look for him', and in response he shook his head. "Nah, he'll be fine. He's a Water-type, remember? Probably just taking the opportunity to swim in the ocean like he did in the Kalos River."

Louise nodded at that, understanding his logic. Her worried abated, she took a deep breath and submerged once again, Saito following shortly after.

* * *

Far away from their spot on the beach, submerged under the water, Ronin swam briskly among the corals. He couldn't remember the last time he was able to swim so freely. His time spent in the river was limited, as was his movement, but here in the ocean he was much freer. Free to swim however he wanted, wherever he wanted, all to his heart's content. It was liberating.

At least it was, before he accidentally swam straight into a Clauncher. The Oshawatt barely had time to register what had happened, much less attempt to apologize, before the wild Pokémon retaliated with a stream of bubbles, buffeting him underwater and sending him back.

Now equally irritated, Ronin forgo any further attempts towards piece and rocketed towards the Clauncher, pulling out his scalchop and swinging it into the crustacean's shell. The blow rocked the Clauncher's body, but it quickly retaliated by clasping its massive claw around Ronin's body and began using Vice Grip. Ronin screamed at the pressure, a wave of bubbles ejecting from his mouth, but his body then began to glow a dark orange. A moment later, he used Revenge to forcibly pry the Clauncher off of him, sending it hurtling back with a tumble. Not letting up, Ronin began swimming as fast as he could, a cone of water forming around him as he used Aqua Jet.

The Clauncher narrowed its eyes and shielded itself with its bigger arm, absorbing the jolt with a pained hiss, bubbles escaping from its mandibles and rising to the surface. It then aimed its claw at Ronin and fired a Water Pulse, ricocheting back to get some room while Ronin himself blocked the attack with his scalchop. The two parties glared at each other for a long moment, sizing the other up, when Ronin suddenly felt the need to breath. Breaking eye contact, he began to swim upwards, only to stop once he felt the claw clasp around his leg. In shock, Ronin glanced downwards to see the Clauncher holding him still, and then the Oshawatt grew very angry at the dishonorable act.

Using Aqua Jet once more, Ronin shot up and out of the water, a surprised Clauncher still holding on for dear life. Twisting his body into a half-flip while still in mid-air, Ronin pried the Clauncher off of him before sending him flying into the beach with a Razor Shell. The Clauncher slammed against the soft sand, forming a deep trough as it tumbled. Ronin, meanwhile, began to descend, but before hit the water he threw his scalchop down at an angle into a cascading wave. Taking advantage of his small stature, Ronin angled himself just right so that instead of sinking beneath the waves, he only dipped slightly. The angle provided him with enough momentum so that he soon began to surf the wave back towards the beach, straight towards a recovering Clauncher.

" _Face this, you dishonorable cretin!_ " Ronin shouted as she raced towards it. The Clauncher, realizing its suddenly more limited movement options, opted to burrow slightly into the sand and turning itself into a makeshift artillery station. It began to fire attack after attack, consisting of a mixture of Water Guns, Water Pulses, Bubble, and even Bubblebeam, its emplacement allowing the Pokémon to enlarge its attacks considerably. Ronin, undeterred, merely skidded around the attacks, forming an Aqua Jet underneath his scalchop-turned-surfboard to boost his speed even further. When a particularly large Water Pulse shot towards him, Ronin turned upwards and flew high above the crest of the wave, doing a flip as he soared forward and over the surprised Clauncher.

Ronin landed behind the Pokémon just as the wave broke against the sand, washing up to his feet. Now in a panic, the Clauncher attempt to burrow his way out of the sand and face him, but Ronin merely hefted his scalchop skyward before slamming it down onto its back with another Razor Shell. Water sprayed forth in all directions, darkening the sand, and Ronin continued to press his advantage. Digging his paws into the sand, Ronin briefly grimaced at the heat before ripping the dazed Clauncher out, then slammed it repeatedly against the sand beside him. Now battered, the Clauncher was helpless as the angry Oshawatt rapidly sliced his scalchop using Fury Cutter, each attack growing more powerful than the last.

Finally, when the Clauncher slumped over, only then did Ronin allow himself to cease. With a grunt, he hefted the Clauncher onto his scalchop then dragged it towards the ocean, before hurling it in. A few moments after the loud splash, a dazed but angered Clauncher poked its head out towards Ronin, who stared right back and pointed his scalchop threateningly towards it. The Clauncher stared at him for a few moments, quietly weighing his odds, before he slowly sank back beneath the waves.

" _Yeah, you better run,_ " Ronin muttered as he began to walk back towards the others, a noticeable limp in his walk. When he finally arrived, he noticed how his trainer and Louise were still playing out in the beach, having now migrated from simply exploring the nearby reef to doing impromptu races between themselves. Ronin allowed himself to smirk at the sight of Saito easily winning.

" _Ah, Ronin. You're back. How was—Holy crap, what happened to you!?_ " Tanuki suddenly shouted, causing the other Pokémon to look at the Oshawatt in concern. That concern grew to alarm when they saw how battered he was, and Espirit immediately threw her tanning mirror to the side and teleported over to him. Ronin sighed in relief as he felt the Heal Pulse wash over him.

" _Thank you, Espirit,_ " he said before looking back up at the others. Tengu began waddling over from her spot by the water and looked up at him with concerned eyes, and even Maindo glanced at him from the corner of his eyes.

" _Swam into a grouchy Clauncher on accident, who attacked me_ ," Ronin revealed, causing the Pokémon to raise their eyebrows in surprise.

"Ah, I see," Derflinger muttered, then paused for a moment. "Did you at least win?"

" _Yes._ " Ronin couldn't hide the satisfaction in his voice, and Tanuki slapped Ronin on the shoulder in congratulations. When Ronin winced at the action, the Riolu immediately backed away with his paws raised upwards apologetically, while Espirit cutely glared at him.

" _Sorry…_ "

' _Honestly, Tanuki. You know better than to do that,_ ' she chastised, and Tanuki hung his head in shame.

" _I know…_ "

The other Pokémon chuckled at the exchange before making some room for Ronin to sit down. As he did, he allowed himself to fall back onto the sand and feel the sun's rays wash over him. He then closed his eyes and began to rest.

* * *

A few more hours had past by the time Ronin finally awoke. The sun was now beginning to dip down, telling him it was well past noon, and a quick glance around told him that the other Pokémon had migrated down towards the water, playfully splashing each other with reckless abandon. Even Maindo appeared to be getting in on the fun, albeit with a much more malicious look to his splashes the others' more lighthearted ones. The lone exception to this was Tengu, who was currently resting in soft bed of sand while absorbing water from a water bottle carefully atop her cap. She seemed to be content, enjoying the pleasant warmth of the sand and the ocean breeze.

" _Enjoying yourself?_ " Ronin asked the Seedot, and after a moment she opened one eye towards him then slightly nodded. She then went back to her previous routine, and Ronin nodded to himself. It wasn't hard for him to realize why Tengu, already a reclusive and laidback Pokémon, was acting in such a manner. The beach was a brand-new environment for her, far from the vast forest Tengu previously called home.

Ronin looked back out towards the beach, seeing that Louise and Saito had surfaced once again. Bright smiles were on both of their faces, and Ronin couldn't help but grin.

"GAAGH!" Louise suddenly screeched, shocking Saito and the others. She then grew mad for some reason and splashed Saito in apparent retaliation, much to his confusion.

"Hey, what was that for?" he asked while wiping the water from his goggles.

"I told you to stop touching my leg," Louise stated with a huff, but when Saito merely looked confused at her accusation, her expression began to soften.

"Uh… I didn't touch your leg," Saito admitted, and Louise's eyebrow shot up.

"Then who did?" she asked herself, only to feel another weight on her leg. Poking her head down beneath the water, Louise was greeted by the sight of a small Tentacool wrapped around her leg, apparently resting. She simply stared at it for a moment in complete silence, and when the Tentacool finally noticed Louise staring at it, the Pokémon looked up towards her.

"… AAAGH!" Louise screamed, a flurry of bubbles erupting from her mouth as she flailed and kicked, trying to dislodge the Tentacool from her leg. For a moment the squid-like Pokémon held on for dear life before Louise finally kicked her leg violently out the water's surface, sending it flying like a catapult. Not resting for an instant, Louise began swimming back to the beach as fast as possible, not hearing the sound of Saito's uproarious laughter behind her until she was well past the water's edge. She breathed in and out deeply, slowly registering Saito's laughter and blushing heavily.

"St-Stop it! It's not funny!" Louise, quickly rising to her feet, shouted as Saito swam back up to the beach, still laughing as hard as he could. The other Pokémon's laughter did nothing to abate her embarrassment, and in a huff, she stomped over to her towel and sat down.

"Come on, Louise. It was funny," Saito chuckled but Louise only huffed and dramatically turned her head away from him. Sighing to himself, Saito turned to look down the beach and then back at Louise. "I saw an ice cream stand down a ways. Want anything?"

Louise, her eyes still closed, thought for a moment before answering, "Chocolate, two scoops."

"You love your chocolate," Saito chuckled, and Louise childishly stuck her tongue out towards him. Shaking his head, Saito began walking down the beach towards a nearby stand, Louise watching him out of the corner of her eye.

"What is with you and chocolate, by the way?" Derflinger asked.

"Tristain doesn't have chocolate back home," Louise answered.

"You sure about that? I mean, you forgot that people back home knew about extinction just yesterday."

"Th-That was… Why am I defending myself to you!?" Louise, blushing in embarrassment from her misconception, shouted at the Honedge, who raised his sash up in appeasement.

"Relax, pinky. I was just joking," Derflinger stated, and Louise sighed. It was then that Saito returned, two ice creams in hand.

"Louise," he said as handed Louise her ice cream, who happily took it and began to lick. Saito sat down next to her and began to eat his as well before beginning to speak once again, "So, wanna head back to the hotel then check out the aquarium?"

"Mmm… Maybe," Louise replied after taking a lick, "After all, you said it yourself. No need to plan everything out today."

"Fair enough," Saito replied with an appreciative grin. The two continued eating their ice cream in comfortable silence, content to feel the ocean breeze wash over them and smell the salt in the air. Louise paused for a minute then breathed in deeply, smiling after releasing her breath.

"Something on your mind?" Derflinger asked, and Louise could feel everyone's attention drift towards her. After a moment, Louise began to speak.

"You know, when I first arrived in Kalos… That was probably the single worst day in my life. Nothing else comes close," she noted, causing Saito to nod in his head in understanding.

"Getting sucked into a new world, losing everything you've ever known… I couldn't imagine going through that, again" he admitted, but Louise shook her head.

"It wasn't just that. Just everything that led up to it. A lifetime of failure seemingly culminating in the success I'd always craved, only to seemingly have snatched away by a wrathful being calling Himself a God because I wasn't worthy in His eyes. Then I just had to open my mouth, and he took me up on my offer to send me to Kalos."

"Sounds like something Arceus would do…" Derflinger muttered. "He always was a touch overdramatic and kinda over-the-top at times."

"Yeah…" Louise paused for a moment. "I still don't like Him. Don't think I ever really will. But I will say one thing. After spending the last few months here, seeing Kalos, traveling with my team and you… I think I can honestly say that this is the best time of my life. Nothing else comes close," Louise punctuated her last remark with smile, and Saito smiled back. He then raised his ice cream up like a glass.

"To more fun times," he stated, and Louise raised her ice cream up to join him.

"And to proving that stupid llama wrong," Louise replied, and the two went to eat their ice cream one again.

Had a beachball not suddenly slam into Louise's face, splattering her ice cream all over her face, that's all she would have done. A heavy silence descended into the group as everyone stared in numb shock at the completely surprised Louise. The ice cream, still partially attached to its waffle cone, clung to the side of Louise's face as she stared forward in completely shock. Slowly, she turned her eyes to stare at the frozen treat, watching as it slid off her cheek and splatter against the sand. She then turned her eyes to stare at Saito, who looked torn between being amused at her new appearance and looking sympathetic or horrified to avoid focusing her anger at him.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!" Louise heard a woman call out. Slowly, Louise turned her head to glare at the source, seeing two women in bikinis race towards her. Both of them sported a healthy tan, one a brunette and the other a blonde, and the horrified look on the blonde's face told Louise exactly who it was that hit her.

"You…You..." Louise stammered, abject rage beginning to fill her body just as the two women pulled out a cloth from their bags and began to wipe the ice cream off.

"I am so sorry," the blonde started, "We were playing volleyball and I hit the ball the ball too hard. I did not mean to do that."

Louise, rather than reply, began to seethe and breath in and out with increasing vigor, causing Saito to look towards the two beach girls.

"Yeah, you two might want to go," Saito advised, giving the two a slightly angry look. Clearly ashamed, the two began to walk away, only for the brunette to face Saito one last time.

"We're sorry for hitting your little sister. Do you want us to get her a new ice cream?" she innocently asked, and a look of horror crossed Saito's face.

"Oh, here we go…" Derflinger moaned just as Louise turned her head with an audible creak towards the brunette.

"How… How old do you think I am?"

"Um… Fourteen?" the brunette guessed, and Louise's gaze briefly drifted down, first to the women across from her then to her own body. Afterwards, Louise angrily shot up to her feet.

"I am sixteen, not a child!" Louise shouted, causing the blonde to wince at her friend's mistake. "And I don't want another ice cream from the likes of you!"

"Well, what do you want?" the brunette asked, and Louise's eyes travelled towards a pair of Pokéballs strapped to their waists. Immediately, Louise pointed towards them dramatically.

"I challenge you two to a Pokémon battle!" she announced, causing the two women to look at each other then back to Louise. A confident smirk crossed their faces, and they nodded.

"You're on."

* * *

After clearing away the beach towels and other assorted items from the area, the group of trainers had claimed their spot of beach as an impromptu battle arena. A small gathering of spectators had formed around them, and the two pairs of trainers stood across from one other.

"This will be a two-on-two double battle between Marie and Antoinette versus Louise and Saito!" Derflinger announced, taking the role of referee for the upcoming battle. Louise nodded at the announcement. Originally, she had fully intended to face the two women on her own, but Saito had insisted on being her partner during this battle. Eventually, she relented and now the two of them stood side-by-side once again.

"Marie, are you sure its okay to have a Pokémon be the referee?" Antoinette asked while brushing aside her blonde hair.

"Oy! I'll have you know I took the online certification class, thank you very much! I am League certified!" Derflinger shouted back indignantly.

"Wait, is that what you were doing all day on my Pokédex a few days ago?" Saito suddenly asked, but the Honedge ignored him. The boy sighed then stared back towards the women stoically, waiting for Derflinger to give the signal.

"Begin!"

As soon as the words left Derflinger's non-existent mouth, the trainers leaped into action.

"Aile!" Louise shouted as she threw a Luxury Ball into the open air.

"Tengu!" Saito joined her at the same time, tossing Tengu's Pokéball onto the sandy beach.

"Go, Staryu!" Marie declared while lobbing a Net Ball just as Antoinette threw out her own.

"Wingull, show them what you've got!"

The four Pokémon burst onto the field, and Louise and Saito were greeted by the familiar sight of a Wingull hovering in place. Next to it, however, was a Pokémon she hadn't seen before. It was an orange five-star-shaped creature with a gold centerpiece that was adorned with an embedded ruby in its core. Quickly, Louise took out her Pokédex and scanned it.

" _Staryu, the Star Shape Pokémon. Bottom-feeders that dwell on the ocean floor, Staryu's are highly resilient creatures. So long as the central core remained undamaged, they can regenerate lost limbs with ease."_

"Hmm…" Louise hummed to herself before glancing towards Saito, whom she saw was doing the same thing. Strategies began to run through her head, focusing on how their current matchup would fair against their opponents. Then, with a final nod, she sprang into action.

"Aile, use Quick Attack on Wingull!" she ordered, and at once Aile disappeared into a blur then slammed into the Wingull. With a loud and shrill cry, the bird was sent fluttering back, but it recovered and glared at the Fletchling angrily.

"So, if that's how you want to play it… Wingull, use Quick Attack right back!" Antoinette declared as the Wingull did as instructed. It slammed into Aile in a blur, its larger mass sending the Fletchling hurtling towards the ground. She quickly pushed herself off the ground, however, and her body began to glow in a purple sheen as Louise ordered her to use Agility.

Saito, meanwhile, focused on having Tengu using Growth, knowing that the more stationary Seedot would be unable to even attempt dodging. Noticing this, the Staryu's center gem briefly glowed red before hurtling itself towards her with Rapid Spin.

"Bide!" Saito immediately ordered, and Tengu halted her latest Growth and braced herself, her body glowing white just as the Staryu slammed into her. Tengu was flung back across the sand, rolling across the ground before skidding to a halt. She then forced herself back to her feet just as the Staryu began firing a barrage of Swift towards her. Her body still braced, Tengu met the shooting stars head on, shuddering at each impact as a cloud of dust and sand formed around her. Eventually, the cloud fully consumed her, and only then did the barrage cease.

As the dust began to settle, the Staryu watched it warily only for the cloud to be forcibly parted by a wide beam as the Bide released its pent-up energy. Staryu attempted to fly down to avoid the blast but was unable to prevent the top portion of its body from being struck, causing it to flip uncontrollably.

"Bullet Seed!" Saito ordered, hoping to take advantage of Staryu's current predicament. Almost immediately, Tengu aimed the top of her cap towards the Staryu and fired tiny seeds towards it like bullets from a machine gun. The seeds struck the flailing Staryu, the Grass-type assault proving to be highly effective against the Water-type. However, the Staryu then righted itself and began flying away, Tengu adjusting her aim accordingly.

It was then that Tengu was knocked back by the Wingull, who had used a Wing Attack to throw her off. As the Seedot righted herself, a thoroughly wet Aile shook herself dry and used Quick Attack to strike the Wingull away just as the Staryu straightened herself.

"Staryu, use Recover!" Marie declared with a dramatic point. Staryu's gem glowed in acknowledgement, and then the entire Pokémon began to glow in a healing light as its wounds began to visibly heal, bruises disappearing and cuts sealing.

"Dammit…" Saito cursed as he thought of ways to counteract this development. He knew that any small wounds they would inflict onto the Staryu would be healed, making this battle into a war of attrition. It was also clear to him that the Wingull's similar speed and greater size had put it at an advantage to Aile, which watching them spar overhead with pecks and wingbeats easily showed. The Fletchling was getting whittled down ever so slowly, and as the Staryu began to assault Tengu with yet another barrage of Swift, Saito's eyes glanced towards the sun.

"Saito, what are you planning?" Louise asked him in a whisper, and Saito then nodded.

"We have to take that Staryu out first with a single, big blow. Otherwise it'll just heal from anything we throw at it."

"I figured. Any ideas?"

"Just one, but I need you to keep both distracted."

"On it. Aile, use Roost then follow it up with a Tailwind!"

Aile chirped in acknowledgement before resting on the ground, a white glow enveloping her and ruffling her feathers. Her bruises then disappeared, and she quickly flew upwards to escape a Water Gun attack from both Pokémon. As she rose, Aile created a Tailwind that increased her speed even further.

"Now, Razor Wind!" Louise shouted. Aile immediately began flapping her wings as fast and hard as she could, generating slices of air that shot forth towards the Wingull and Staryu, buffeting them heavily. Although the Staryu halted a bit, the Wingull narrowed its gaze and flew towards the Fletchling, aiming to use Peck on her. However, just as the Pokémon grew closer, Aile flew down under its belly, rotating herself as she did and quickly using Peck on the exposed underside. Wingull screeched in slight pain and retaliated with Wing Attack, only for Aile to use Quick Attack on the Staryu to escape, interrupting the Star Shape Pokémon's Swift assault on an immobile Tengu.

A small orb of green energy was slowly forming on the top of the Seedot's cap, accumulating more and more sunlight with each passing second. Staryu and Marie had recognized what Saito was trying to do almost immediately, given how the orb was the telltale sign of an imminent Solar Beam attack. Should it hit, it would undoubtedly eliminate Staryu from the fight almost immediately. Not even its Recover would be able to save it, even as the Pokémon used the move in question to heal itself of its latest wounds. It attempted to ignore the Fletchling and refocused its attention toward Tengu, only for Aile to suddenly use Quick Attack on its core, following it up with a hard-hitting Wing Attack-Peck combo. Reeling back, Staryu's gem flashed dangerously and responded with a Barrage of Swift, the attacks racing towards Aile's speeding form.

"Aile, fly towards the Wingull!" Louise commanded. When Aile squawked in surprise, Louise continued, "Trust me, just do it!"

Aile looked at her trainer for a second longer before complying, flying towards the Wingull as fast as she could, the Swift stars still racing towards her. Aile could hear them whistle as they grew ever closer, and in front of her she saw Wingull flying down with its wings glowing white, telling her it was prepared to use Wing Attack on her. Aile wanted to fly away, but Louise ordered her to keep going and so Aile did. As she grew closer to the Wingull, Aile felt the need to close her eyes.

"Down!" Louise suddenly shouted, and Aile did so just as the Wingull prepared to strike her. The striking wings missed entirely, surprising the Wingull. That surprise turned into pain as much of the Swift stars hit it instead, obscuring the Pokémon in a cloud of dust and causing it to cry out in pain. A few stars managed to avoid the Wingull, flying down and striking Aile's back and causing her to flop to the ground. Staryu, clearly angered, made to attack the recovering Aile, only for its attention to turn back towards Tengu. The orb of solar energy had grown to such a point where it was nearly the size of the Seedot's entire body, and a wicked cross had crossed her face.

"Now! Use Solar Beam!" Saito ordered. Staryu's gem flashed in alarm before a giant green beam of solar energy shot forth, enveloping the Water-type entirely. The beam passed several spectators safely overhead, although many instinctively ducked to avoid the blast. When the beam finally dissipated, a slightly charred Staryu feebly floated in mid-air, its gem blinking rapidly before finally going dull. Then the Pokémon fell to the ground with a slight thud, down for the count.

"Staryu is unable to battle!" Derflinger announced, and Marie sighed while recalling her Pokémon.

"You did well, Staryu. Take a nice rest," she said before turning towards Antoinette. "Avenge me, sis!"

"Stop being so dramatic," the sister replied with a smirk, having every intention to do so. The look on Wingull's face showed that it, too, intended to avenge its fallen partner, and it soon let out a Supersonic cry towards Aile. The soundwaves rattled Aile's brain, and she shook her head to try and drown it out. Her vision became blurry, and her movements became erratic.

"Crap, she's confused!" Saito noted, and Louise looked on in worry.

"Aile, snap out of it!" she said with worry, and to her credit the Fletchling tried to do so only to instead accidentally hit herself with her wing, causing her to fall towards the ground. Worried, Tengu hobbled over towards her prone form, the pain she was feeling causing her to do so slowly. Wingull then turned its attention towards Tengu and flew towards her with a Wing Attack at the ready. Knowing she wasn't going to dodge it, Tengu used Bide in an attempt to protect herself, but that didn't stop the super-effective blow from sending her flying back. Tengu, when she finally stopped, felt that the world was on fire, only for another blow to send her hurtling to the ground once again. In the corner of her eye, she could see Aile struggling to reorient herself, and with a determined groan Tengu forced herself onto her feet one last time. As the Wingull raced towards Tengu, the Seedot felt the stored energy unleash itself and slam into the Wingull's body, sending it hurtling skyward. A moment later, Tengu fell to the ground in a faint.

"Tengu is unable to battle! It is now Aile vs Wingull!" Derflinger announced and Saito returned his Pokémon. Aile then shook herself out of her confusion. As she struggled to right herself, she could see that the Wingull was in just as dire straits as she was. Quickly, Aile used Roost to heal some of her wounds, and she felt the strain on her body dissipate slightly. Still, she had to end the battle quickly.

"Alright, girl. Time to try out that new move," Louise muttered under her breath as the Wingull steadied itself. "Now, use Steel Wing!"

Aile let out a shrill cry as she raced towards her opponent, feeling the Tailwind die out as she did. Undeterred, Wingull charged up a Water Pulse and shot it towards the Fletchling. Rather than move around it, Aile forced herself into a spin and corkscrewed through the orb of water, feeling it explode behind her. Surprised, the Wingull attempted to fly away only to feel the steel-encased wing of Aile slam into its belly. Air rushed out of its lungs and it fell to the ground in a heap, breathing heavily and feeling its head spin. Aile, not wanting to let up, slammed another Steel Wing onto Wingull's back, burrowing her deeper into the ground. She attacked the larger bird repeatedly and without pause until finally Derflinger spoke up.

"That's enough. Wingull is unable to battle," he said, and with a heavy breath Aile fluttered away. She could see the thoroughly unconscious Wingull. Antoinette sighed and returned the Pokémon before looking towards Louise and Saito.

"Well, that was a good match," she declared with a smile, and Louise let out a victorious grunt before tossing the women two Full Restores. Catching them easily, Marie and Antoinette smiled. "Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah," Louise muttered before returning Aile and walking away. Saito and the others watched her leave, likely towards the Pokémon Center, and the women turned to face the boy.

"Fiery one, isn't she?" Marie noted, and Saito nodded.

"Yeah, she kinda is at times. She'll calm down in a bit, though. Thanks for the battle." Saito smiled and then extended out his hand. Marie and Antoinette smiled, and each shook it before bidding each other farewell.

The two raced to the nearest Pokémon Center, where they saw Louise waiting patiently outside. Together, they walked inside and handed Nurse Joy both of their parties, and as the nurse took the Luxury Balls and Pokéballs inside, the two trainers sat down on a nearby bench and grabbed some magazines. Silently, they then began to read.

"… Thanks for helping me," Louise told him, and Saito nodded.

"No problem. Anything for a friend."

* * *

"So," Diego said, taking a sip of his coffee, "Do you have any questions?"

Elizabeth glanced around nervously. Diego, Janet, Raven, and Erina all sat around a circular table at a patio cafe. Diego had insisted that the place had the perfect atmosphere for a script reading, but the verdette wasn't quite so sure. "Isn't this place a little too… public?" she replied, "Won't knowing that this is all rehearsed, I don't know, dilute the experience?"

"Dilute the experience!? _Hah!_ " Janet cried, placing her gas mask on the table, "You sound like my scriptwriter!"

"Scriptwriter?" Elizabeth queried back, confused, "I thought you said you were retired?"

"She is," Raven said, staring dejectedly into her glass of iced water, "She just happens to be the MC and the owner of the local PWE stadium."

"I really don't like to advertise it," Janet said, cutting Elizabeth off, "I'd prefer if you kept that to yourself as well."

"O-oh," Elizabeth said, "Got it."

"So, to summarize," Erina began, "Me and Raven are going to warm up the crowd with 'Hunter' and 'Executioner' vying for Diego's favor, then the newbie comes in with the intent to usurp Diego."

"I don't think we need to practice your parts at all," Janet said, fiddling with the filters on her gas mask, "Arceus knows you two do that enough outside of PWE."

"Excuse me!?" Raven and Erina shouted in tandem.

"Not over Diego specifically," Janet clarified, "but you two really do fight a lot."

"She had her bird tie my hair to a door!" Raven cried indignantly.

"Unfezant doesn't have hands, nor is she physic," Erina countered, "You have no proof it was me."

"WHY YOU!"

"Ladies!" Diego cried, gnashing his teeth together in a rather audible manner, "You're both beautiful. Now, could we please get moving."

Nobody said anything for a moment.

"Elizabeth," Erina said, "That's your cue."

"Sorry," the verdette said, flipping through her script, "I didn't know we were practicing again.

"So we meet at last, Diego Brando," Elizabeth declared theatrically, "I look forward to seeing you grovel at— What was that face for, Janet?"

"Oh? Sorry. It wasn't anything to do with your act," the pigtailed woman apologized, "This place can't seem to decide what blend of tea to use."

"Yes, I've noticed that as well," Diego added, "They seem to be switching randomly between the Galar blend, the Unova blend, the Johto blend, and the local stuff almost at random. What's worse is that they don't even seem to bother informing their customers that a switch has been made."

"'s not my problem," Raven said, draining her glass before slamming it back down with enough force to cause some of the liquid inside to splash out, "I prefer whiskey, after all."

Elizabeth flinched, bad memories aside, she was certain that Raven had emptied her glass at least five times since they'd first sat down, yet it was still as full as when it had been given to her.

"I don't know," Elizabeth said, putting the mystery of the glass out of her mind, "None of these lines really seem to fit me well."

"Well, that's certainly an issue," Diego said with a smile on his face, "After all, we can't have a _flat_ performance for your debut, can we?"

"No, we certainly can't," Elizabeth said in reply, a frown marring her continence, "But, aren't we stuck with this?"

"You aren't, actually. Why do you think we're doing this right now?" Janet supplied, "Inez won't like me saying this, but—"

"Raven," Erina interjected, her posture stiffening, "Guess who just showed up."

"Nice try, Erina," Raven scoffed, "You're not pulling that one on me again."

Erina's eyes went cold as she slowly extracted herself from her seat. Her movements were almost feline in their fluency, but _wrong_ for this situation. Remaining silent was all well and good, but experience had taught the verdette that a gait meant for sneaking up on wild Pokémon tended to be wasteful, or even get one caught if used on a sentry. Elizabeth unconsciously placed a hand on her right arm, only to find smooth skin instead of the jagged scar that _should_ have been there. Her arm shouldn't be this thin.

Elizabeth dug her nails in, almost drawing blood from the sheer pressure. Then, despite her instincts _screaming_ otherwise, she turned to follow Erina's gaze.

Nothing caught her eyes immediately, then she saw her. The first thing that came to mind was a playing card: the Jack of Clubs. Silver hair framed a pale face with wide-set, jade eyes, much in contrast to the dark clothing she wore. A bright red tattoo sat under her left eye, almost looking like a tear of blood at this distance. Elizabeth frowned, this was obviously someone Erina knew from her time with Team Rocket, but she didn't look Kantonian at all. Maybe it was just her clothes, but her face looked more Unova than anything.

Almost as if she knew she was being watched, the Jack turned to face Elizabeth's table. For a moment, nothing happened, then her eyes widened, presumably haven seen Erina. Without wasting a second, the silver-haired woman whipped around and ran away as fast as she could.

"Get back here!" Erina shouted, vaulting over the table and sprinted after the Jack.

"Convincing, but you're not getting me that easily!" Raven called after her fellow wrestler. Taking another sip from her glass, her lips twitched downwards as she saw Elizabeth's face. "Weren't your eyes red earlier?"

Elizabeth sighed, "First off, they're maroon, not red. Secondly, I don't know what you're talking about."

"BS," Raven scoffed, leaning uncomfortably close to the verdette, "Your eyes were red when we sat down. They're green now."

"You know, Erina wasn't trying to trick you," Elizabeth deflected, "She actually saw someone."

"Oh? Describe 'em for me, then," Raven said, lifting her glass to her lips.

"She was this Jack of Clubs-looking gal," Elizabeth started, "She had silver hair and pale green eyes, but the most striking thing about her was the red teardrop tattoo she had under her left eye, like so." The verdette placed her finger on about where she remembered the tattoo being.

Raven spat out her drink at Elizabeth's words. "Hanan Kotch! Why didn't you tell me sooner!?"

With that, Raven all but flipped out of her seat and took off after Erina.

Janet pinched her nose at her colleagues' actions. "Ghastly," she said, releasing the aforementioned Pokémon, "Make sure those two idiots don't get arrested again."

"Again?" Elizabeth asked in shock.

"Trust me," Diego cut in, "You don't want to know."

"As I was saying," Janet spoke up, "Inez, my scriptwriter, might throw a fit, but you could probably work with her to get the script changed more to your liking. Once she gets over her initial irritation, I'm sure she'd be happy to tailor your persona closer to your actual personality."

"But, before we do that," Diego added, "we might as well run through this at least once to see if there's anything worth salvaging."

"Good idea, Diego," Elizabeth conceded, "From the top, I guess."

* * *

Saito and Louise had spent several hours at the beach before retiring back to the hotel, where they changed into their casual clothes and went into the beachfront aquarium. By the time they finally left the building, the sun had long since set, and the half-moon was rising above.

"Geez, what time is it?" Saito asked as he looked at the moon. Louise pulled out her Pokédex to check.

"Says here it's about… 11 P.M.," she replied, and Saito instinctively let out a yawn in response.

"Sure feels like it. Well, time to hit the hay."

Louise nodded at that and together the two began heading back to the hotel. Derflinger hovered next to them as they walked along the night streets. Occasionally, a car would pass by on its way to wherever it was going, and overhead they could hear the cries of Zubats chasing after small insects. Rattatas scurried across the ground through garbage cans, which Louise made a pointed effort to avoid. She yawned tiredly when they neared the front door of the hotel, and Saito moved to open the door for her.

"After you," he said, and Louise rolled her eyes.

"My, such a gentleman," she gently mocked, smiling nonetheless. Saito smiled back, only for his gaze to be directed elsewhere. His eyes narrowed as he tried to make out what he was seeing, and a confused Louise turned around to see a dark quadrupedal Pokémon standing behind a streetlamp. She walked forward slowly, Saito gently closing the door behind him and walking next to her. As they did, the Pokémon stepped forward to reveal the white fur of an Absol, who was staring right at them.

The two trainers felt their breath hitch as both sides stared at each other. In the back of Saito's mind, he felt that the Pokémon seemed familiar, but he was instead focused on what exactly the Absol's presence entailed. Any doubt he or Louise had towards the species' ability to predict disasters by merely being there was thoroughly crushed out during the Daycare Siege, so seeing one in Ambrette meant nothing good. Suddenly, the Absol ran out into the darkness, pausing for a moment at an intersection to look back towards them before taking off again.

"…Okay, that's not—" Saito began, only for Louise to quickly take off after the Absol. "Louise, wait!"

Louise ignored him as she continued to chase after the Absol. As she did, she quickly noticed how the Absol was keeping sure to have Louise stay in sight, and she quickly realized it was leading her somewhere. Her eyes narrowed, she continued chasing after the Absol before finally stopping in front of a large building, the Absol nowhere to be found.

"Where did it…" she muttered to herself as she spun around in all directions, trying to find the creature. A moment later, Saito came running after her, a worried Derflinger hovering behind him.

"Geez, Louise… Warn a guy next time," Saito stated as he caught his breath. After doing so, he looked at the building in front of him and recognized it as the Ambrette Fossil Museum. Eyes narrowed in suspicion, he walked towards the front door and checked the door, finding it to be locked.

"Door's locked," he revealed, but neither he nor Louise were convinced. They looked at each other for a moment then quietly released their Pokémon. At first, the six of them were confused as to why they were out so late, but a quick rundown by Derflinger caused them to go on high-alert. Louise then gestured Saito to go right, while she herself continued left.

The two separated, walking along the sides of the building and inspecting each and every corner for something amiss. There were no obvious signs of a break-in. No shattered windows or walls, no tampered electronics. Nothing. That only caused Louise's tension to rise even more, until finally she met with Saito again at the back door. Judging by the semi-truck loaded into the docking bay, it appeared to be a crew entrance. Normally, that wouldn't have surprised either of them.

The fact that the door was slightly ajar was.

Silently, the two crept forward and pushed the door open, seeing that the hallway was cloaked in darkness. The security camera, normally blinking red and moving about, was instead still and turned off. They couldn't hear anything from within, and after a moment the two trainers looked at each other. Louise then nodded, and when Saito nodded back, he pulled out his Pokédex and dialed 9-1-1.

"Hello, officer?" he talked into the phone while Louise maintained a lookout. "Yes, I'm at the Ambrette Fossil Museum with my friend. We think there's a burglary in progress. The back door was left unlocked and the security cameras appear to be off."

Louise tuned out the rest of his conversation with the police officer, who began asking him a myriad array of questions while maintaining that they move away from the premises immediately. Part of Louise wanted to do just that, but another part told her to press forward and investigate herself. Eventually, she silently crept into the museum, with her Pokémon following behind.

"Uh, Saito?" Derflinger poked Saito's back with his sash, but the boy waved him off. Derflinger poked again, harder this time, and when Saito sharply turned around, his rebuke died on his lips as he took in the noticeable lack of pink at the considerably more open door.

" _Sir? Saito, are you there?"_ the voice of Officer Jenny spoke through the speaker, and Saito quickly responded with a resigned tone.

"My friend just went inside," he revealed. Before he could hear the officer's demand for him to stay put, he hung up and walked inside, gently closing the door behind him. He saw Louise a few ways ahead of him, staring into a room, and he crept up behind her then gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" he whispered, and Louise pointed her finger inside. Saito followed her gaze and his eyes widened at the sight of a slumped over security guard sitting at a guard station, the monitors all turned off. Quietly, he crouch-walked over and checked his pulse, sighing in relief after realizing the man was merely asleep.

"Must have been a Hypnosis," he guessed, but when Louise snarled and prepared to go forward, Saito grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Louise, wait a moment."

"We have to stop them! Who knows who else the thieves have hurt?"

"Absolutely not," he insisted. "The police are on their way. Let them handle this."

"But…" Louise began, but Saito silenced her with a firm stare. After a moment, Louise closed her eyes and nodded, and the two began to head back towards the back door.

They crept through the hallways and quickly found themselves at the back door, but when they tried to open it, they found that it wouldn't budge. Alarm rising, Saito tried to jiggle it loose, but the door handle wouldn't budge.

"Oh, no…" Louise whispered, and like Deerling in headlights they were motionless as the loading bay door next to them suddenly opened.

"You're lucky we locked the door. What would have happened had CZ or the boss been the one to find out before us?" a voice chastised her partner, who groaned in annoyance.

"Hey, get off my back, will ya? Besides, it was only unlocked for, like, five minutes."

"Yeah, five minutes for someone to, I don't know, sneak in, discover our entire operation, and get us all thrown in jail? I can't go back to prison, and I'm not going because of your screw up."

"Oh, please. You're paranoid. No one's going to get—" the grunt's declaration was halted as she and her partner exited the loading bay, only to find a frozen Saito, Louise, Derflinger and all the other Pokémon staring right at each other. The two trainers immediately noticed the tell-tale uniform of a Team Flare grunt, a bright orange suit and tie with blood-red sunglasses. A pregnant pause enveloped the group as both sides tried to determine what exactly to do, but when the grunts reached for their Pokéballs Louise instinctively acted.

"Fireball!"

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Sorry for the long wait. Things kind of happened. But, things are picking up now, and I hope you guys all enjoy!

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **victor janus** : Yeah, we figured that, given Louise's current situation, she would be the type of person to rise early. After all, she's gone all in on becoming a champion to prove her worth, and as such that determination is changing her habits a bit.

As for Saito, you are correct that he has a lot of baggage. But, we felt that our story would be improved by him being here. Louise is still the main character of course, but Saito is an important part of her story. So is the relationship between them.

 **Drewd00d** : Don't worry about it. It took me a month to get this chapter out.

I'm glad that you are enjoying how things are progressing! One of the things that we strive to do is to show how everyone's relationships between each other has progressed. That is, after all, the true emotional core for our story. The awesome battles would mean nothing if you didn't care for the characters, after all.

As for the Tyrunt and Louise's Pokemon, don't worry. We have plans for all of them, and they will be just as interesting and powerful as Saito's. We strove really hard to keep them balanced, and I'm certain you'll like what you'll see.

The Jurassic Park characters are simply fun little references. They don't mean anything in the broader universe. Is there a Jurassic Park equivalent movie? Maybe, but they aren't the same characters as the Jurassic Park expies shown in this current arc.

Yep, Team Flare coming back is to be expected. We've been building up to it for the entire arc. The Ambrette Cell isn't like Maxwell's cell, being slightly less competent as the first one, but they are no less dangerous.

Funnily enough, although Carnegie and CZ were not based off of Roman and Neo, I am a part of two RWBY fanfictions at the moment! Both of them are crossovers and one I'm simply the editor for, but I'm certain you would enjoy them. I am one of the editors for Of Elder Scrolls and Huntsmen: Dragon Rose, a RWBY/The Elder Scrolls crossover where RWBY find themselves in Skyrim right before Alduin attacks, and they are thus thrusted into an end-of-the-world prophecy, and I am writing Hunters of Justice, a RWBY/DC Comics crossover where teams RWBY and JNPR are boomtubed to Earth after Brainiac invades, bottles, and subsequently destroys Remnant, where they are meet the Justice League and start to become superheroes. Both stories are a lot of fun, and if you enjoy what you or anyone enjoy what you see here I'm certain you would enjoy the other stories I'm a part of.

No, this isn't a shameless plug, why do you ask?

 **Kiri Kaitou Clover** : Welcome back! I'm happy that you're still with us, and are enjoying the story so much. All of what you said, Louise's character development/being a believable protagonist, Elizabeth's development, Saito being his own person, all of the Pokemon's personalities, all of that is something we've strived to showcase to their fullest potential. I'm happy you're enjoying this story so much.

 **Avro 683 Lancaster** : Louise will be going back to Halkegenia eventually. What happens at that point, well you'll have to see.

That's all for today! I hope you'll all enjoy!


	42. Season 1, Episode 9, Chapter 5

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 9, Chapter 5**

[~][~]

Inside the museum, teams of Flare grunts loaded fossils and equipment into carefully marked boxes and pallets. The women had been working tirelessly for the past few hours, and so far, everything was going according to plan. Nedry, as promised, had disabled the security cameras around the loading bay entrance, allowing the group to load their trucks inside. There were a few more guards than originally expected, but again thanks to Nedry's information, they were able to adapt. Most of them had been put to sleep before any battle could be done, with the notable exception of the heads of security, Muldoon and Owen. The two of them had managed to protect themselves from the Sleep Powder vented into the building, but not even they could withstand an onslaught of over thirty teams baring down on them.

"Mmmph!" Muldoon, gagged and bound, growled against the barricaded closet door, Owen sitting on the ground behind him. The man was equally constricted but appeared to be much calmer than his direct superior.

"Be quiet," Carnegie spat as he paced in front of them.

Almost as if in spite, Muldoon banged his shoulder against the door, rattling it slightly but not budging it in the slightest.

Carnegie couldn't help but smile. "Try all you want. You're not getting out of there unless _I_ want you out. So please, by all means. It won't change anything."

As the Flare cell leader walked away, fiddling with his clackers as he did, Muldoon banged on the door hard enough to rattle its hinges once again. CZ watched the man rage with a cold, calculating stare. Without saying a word, she twirled around and began walking towards a group of women inspecting an active machine. Without saying a word, the women noticed her presence and answered the unspoken question.

"Fossil revitalization," one of the grunts explained. Seeing CZ's raised eyebrow, she continued. "Was on when we got here. Can't make heads or tails of the readouts, but I do know that if we unplug the damn thing to take it with us, the creature inside will die from complications."

"How do you know that?" another asked.

"Saw it on TV once." Before the two could prattle on, CZ snapped her fingers and brought them both to heel. Knowing her next question, the second woman began to speak.

"Shouldn't take too long. Half an hour, maybe. Once it's done, we'll have a brand-new fossil Pokémon for our cause."

CZ nodded at their answer then walked back to Carnegie. The man continued to pace back and forth, only pausing for a moment when CZ stopped by his side.

"Everything's going to plan," he stated with pride. CZ remained silent for a moment, then nodded. "Finally, things are going right for us for a change. With this we can step up recruitment, increase our supplies. Finally get our funds into shape. The first step of many."

CZ nodded at this, and almost felt a hint of a smile form on her face, only for a dull thud to ring across the building. Everyone immediately fell silent, allowing the sound of the walls and equipment's vibrations to ring out for all to hear. Carnegie's eyes widened as he realized exactly what caused that sound. After all, he'd recognize that from anywhere.

It was the sound of an explosion. One from inside the building. None of his grunts would have done such a thing, lest they risk his (or rather, CZ's) wrath, so that only left one logical option. Someone, somehow, made it inside. The thoughts in his mind became frantic as he tried to understand exactly what could have caused this potential catastrophe. He saw the news about the Lumiose cell, how they had laid siege to the Kalos River Daycare and were defeated due to them being held up by a group of trainers who just so happened to be there. Maxwell, for as much as Carnegie disliked the man, had a much stronger cell than his own, and if even he failed, what chance did he have.

Seeing everyone looking at him, however, causing Carnegie to straighten himself. He was still his cell's leader, and so he must compose himself as one. At the same time, he began to think of this complication not just as a potential disaster, but also as a potential opportunity. Even now he could hear the whispers, telling him his position as leader was tenuous. Normally, a person stumbling across their operation would only make his position worse. But, if he could go out there and stop this intrusion before things get out of hand, put them back on schedule, it might be enough be enough to quiet those whispers.

"CZ, grab three of your best and follow me," he ordered. "Hurry up!"

CZ complied with the order immediately, pointing and snapping her fingers at three women at the far side of the room. They nodded at her then followed after Carnegie, leaving the others behind. As the others tentatively got back to work, CZ looked towards the door then back at the others. Nodding to them, they nodded back silently, then watched as the lieutenant walked after them.

* * *

When the smoke cleared, the two Flare grunts laid unconscious on the ground. Their orange suits were slightly singed along the chest, and their sunglasses – why they were wearing them at night Louise couldn't even begin to guess – were shattered in tiny pieces around their heads. Without taking her wand off them, Louise quickly poked one of their feet with the end. When they didn't move a muscle, Louise finally let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"…What the hell was that?!" Saito hissed, causing Louise to jump back slightly.

"I just…" she stammered as she defended herself, "they were about to attack us and—"

"So, you decided to blow them up?!"

"Yes! What would you have me do?!" Louise countered, distinctly remembering Saito's lack of protest when she had done the same during the Daycare Siege.

"Not blow them up! Hit them hard, maybe, but silently!" Saito paused when he noticed one of the grunts stirring, then took a deep sigh as he pulled out some cloth and rope. "Help me tie them up."

Tossing her some of the rope, the two quickly got to work on bounding the grunts tightly, their Pokémon standing watch over their surroundings. The two of them couldn't help but notice that, compared to the last group they encountered, the amount of supplies each of them had was greatly diminished in quantity but were of greater quality than what the other cell had used. She couldn't focus on that, however, as she and Saito could hear footsteps cascading towards them, but the two of them quickly finished their task and carried the unconscious women into the security room. As they closed the door behind them, a faint click sounded as the door was psychically locked.

"Aren't you two glad that you took me up on my offer?" Derflinger asked, his eye filled with mirth.

"Yes, Derflinger. Thank you for teaching us how to tie knots," Louise replied, careful to keep her voice low. Without turning to face him, Louise began to speak to Saito. "What do we do now?"

"Let me think," Saito said as he kept his ear to the wall. They were getting closer now, and as his eyes drifted towards the door with thoughts of escape, he glanced towards Louise and quickly discarded them. "Well, crap…"

"What?" Louise asked, her voice betraying her confusion.

"Against my better judgement," Saito began, "I think getting out of here isn't an option. I mean, we could. You could just blow up the wall and we run like hell."

"… I could do that," Louise admitted. "But something tells me you don't want to."

Saito nodded. "We can't let Team Flare get what they're after. You heard the tour guide. They have hundreds of fossils here, not to mention enough machines to revive them. Who knows what damage they could do with them."

Louise looked at Saito for a moment then nodded. "Agreed. Running away isn't an option, nor is it the honorable thing to do."

"Figured you'd say that," Saito chuckled. Louise chuckled back only to pause and raise her eyebrow inquisitively.

"What's with the sudden change of heart, by the way?" When Saito didn't answer, she stared at him with a blank expression. "Is this because your Tyrunt is inside?"

"No!" Saito quickly answered. When Louise stared at him blankly, he sighed. "Okay, kinda. But I also don't want them to succeed, and we're already here. We might as well."

Louise stared at him for a few moments longer before sighing and shaking her head. She moved to speak again, only for a door at the end of their corridor to burst open as another grunt ran through. The woman stared at them for but a moment then pulled out a Pokéball.

"I found-!" The grunt was hastily interrupted by another explosion courtesy of Louise, sending her back through the door and into the wall. In a daze, the woman tried to pick herself up only for Derflinger to lash out and strike the top of her head with his pommel, knocking her into unconsciousness.

"…again, with the explosions…"

"As soon as we get out of here, our first order of business is teaching Espirit and Maindo Hypnosis."

* * *

Calem was having a weird night, all things considered. It started off normally. Made some deliveries across town and towards some outlaying mountain cottages. His Gogoat was especially helpful in navigating the treacherous terrain, and his Mudsdale for the rocky roads leading up the mountains. He had thought that, once the sun had set, he would be able to retire to his room in the Pokémon center. A special late-night delivery out of town deprived him of that luxury.

"I swear, who orders pizza at midnight. For that matter, what pizza place is even _open_ at midnight!" he grumbled as he walked along the road. His Pokémon were safely tucked away into their Pokéballs, so he was alone. Yellow streetlights basked the night in its hue, and despite his irritation, Calem found himself at peace in its tranquility.

That peace was shattered when he heard the distinctive thump of an explosion off in the distance. He looked towards where he heard the sound come from and immediately took off towards it. As he did, he pulled out his Gogoat's Pokéball and released it, the Pokémon scooping him up from behind and allowing Calem to mount it. He rode his Pokémon down the road as fast as he could, only getting off once he saw where the sound had come from. To his shock, it appeared to have come from inside the fossil museum. He paused outside the front door, wondering whether to try and open it, only to hear some commotion from the back of the building. It sounded like the start of an engine, with narrowed eyes he and Gogoat crept around to the back. Calem half hoped to find workers trying to repair the damage, but instead he saw a group of orange clad women hastily loading boxes into a tractor trailer.

"Hurry up! The cops are on their way!" one of the women barked at another woman as they continued to load the trailer.

"Don't shout at me! I'm working as fast as I can!" the other countered. "Besides, I'm not the one who messed up!"

"I don't care! We're all in the hotseat now!"

Calem watched the two silently. He recognized their uniforms as those worn by Team Flare, telling him that this must be one of their surviving cells attempting to rob the museum blind. Someone must have stumbled upon their operation here, and now they were in a rush to try and escape before the police arrived. He couldn't let that happen, and so with a grim look he stepped out beyond the corner and called out to them.

"Hey!" he shouted. The criminals stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Calem, who was running towards them with Gogoat by his side.

"Oh, for Arceus' sake!" the lead Flare grunt complained as she angrily shoved a box into the trailer. "Listen boy, how about you just turn around and go back where you came from, forget you saw anything, and we _might_ not hurt you."

"How about instead you guys stop what you're doing and turn yourselves in?" Calem suggested while stroking Gogoat's back. The Pokémon growled menacingly, but to the grunt's credit they didn't appear to be intimidated. Instead they merely scowled and stomped towards the young man, releasing a pair of Pokémon as they did. One was a Mienfoo while the other was a Meditite. "Or we can fight, that works too."

"I'm going to enjoy wiping that smirk off your face, whelp," the second grunt stated with a wicked smile, eyeing his Gogoat with a greedy eye. Seeing this, Calem frowned and pulled out a second Pokéball, releasing Mudsdale out onto the pavement. The brown and orange mule reared upwards in a challenge, its hooves cracking the concrete as it landed.

"You can try," Calem said with a confident smirk, and at once both sides shouted their commands.

"Bulldoze, Razor Leaf!"

"Confusion!"

"Force Palm!"

The three trainers called out. The Mienfoo and Meditite attached first, the yellow mustelid leaping forward with its hand reared back, a blazing aura encasing it while Meditite concentrated with its eyes tightly closed. A purple aura billowed from its head as it attacked Gogoat, the psychic assault causing her to wince in pain. However, she fought through it and retaliated with a flurry of razor-sharp leaves that ejected from her leafy mane. They shot forward at the two Fighting-types, Mienfoo gracefully dodging the projectiles while Meditite shielded itself with a psychic barrier. A few managed to cut into both Pokémon, but before they themselves could retaliate Mudsdale reared up and slammed his hooves down onto the pavement. It cracked then buckled under the force, creating a cascading wave that launched the surprised Pokémon into the air. Seeing an opening, Gogoat grabbed both with Vine Whip and slammed them repeatedly into the ground, each impact cracking the pavement before throwing both into their trainers. As the criminals laid sprawled on the ground, Calem laughed.

"Just to let you guys know, I used to be a League contestant. Gogoat and Mudsdale have been with me for years."

"Why should we care!?" they shouted as they got to their feet.

"Context, really. Seriously though, how about you two stand down before things get any worse for you?" Almost as if in challenge, the two merely threw out another pair of Pokémon, this time a Seviper and a Zangoose. Calem sighed and released two more his Pokémon in response, a Zebstrika and a Rhydon.

"If that's how you want to handle—" Calem was interrupted by the back door being thrown open, unleashing several Team Flare grunts onto the back lot. They were all holding various boxes and prepared to load the truck, but when they saw Calem and his team they immediately dropped whatever they were holding and threw out Pokémon of their own. Calem soon had sixteen Pokémon angrily staring him down, and a bead of sweat trickled down his brow.

"Okay, Mr. 'League Contestant'. How's about you give up before we have to hurt you?" one of the first two grunts taunted him.

"Okay…now things are harder…" he muttered. The Flare grunts smiled wickedly towards him, and as they prepared to mass attack the young boy he began to hear approaching sirens, telling him that the police weren't too far away. Given the nervous looks on some of the criminals' faces, they knew this too. Some appeared to be ready to drop everything and make a break for it, and at once Calem knew exactly what he had to do. If outright defeating them wasn't a realistic option, perhaps stalling them long enough for the police to arrive would be.

"Alright, let's go!" Calem shouted as he threw out his last two Pokémon, a Dodrio and a Rapidash. A few grunts tried to run towards the driver's seat, only for Gogoat to shoot a flurry of leaves into the aluminum door, halting their progress. With a yell, both sides attacked the other with everything they had.

* * *

As another Flare Grunt was punted down the hall, Louise could hear the distinct sounds of battle coming from outside the building. It was dull, muffled by the many layers of concrete and drywall, but she recognized the sounds. It brought a smile to her face, but she and Saito couldn't afford to run over to assist.

Currently the two were racing towards the fossil lab, where they figured Team Flare would be most likely to be concentrated. Give how they've already run into two Grunts who were apparently chasing after them, one shortly after the other, told them they were on the right path. At the same time, it also confirmed her earlier suspicions. Each of the grunts they had come across carried limited amounts of high-grade supplies to heal their Pokémon. At the same time, their actual Pokémon were much better trained than the Pokémon they fought back at the daycare. It seemed to her that, for what this cell lacked in material funds they attempted to make up for it with better trained Pokémon and high-quality equipment. A wise strategy, she had to admit, but not enough to stop her nor Saito from stopping them.

"Say, what's the plan?" Derflinger asked as they rounded a corner.

"Simple. We go in, fight them, and stall until the police get here," Saito answered, carefully applying a potion to Ronin, currently held in his arms.

"That is simple." Derflinger paused. "You do know that leaves a _lot_ of room for things to go wrong?"

"Then we'll improvise," Louise countered with a huff. She understood his concerns. Afterall, she held the same ones. A lot of things could go wrong. Trying to charge headfirst into an enemy stronghold, even as lightly defended as this one, always held the potential for catastrophe. But the alternative was worse, and so they pressed on.

When they rounded another corner, they were forced to stop as they came across yet another Flare Grunt. She was leaning on the wall, tossing a Pokéball up and down in her hand while looking down at her feet. Saito and Louise stared at her cautiously, and when the Grunt got off the wall the two of them tensed.

"You know," she began with a dark chuckle, "you two made it pretty far. I know for a fact that two of my sisters-in-arms went after you. They were no slouches, and you guys tore through them. That takes skill. I'm impressed."

"Glad to hear it," Louise growled, Aile angrily chirping from atop her shoulder.

The Grunt merely smiled at their continued defiance. "I take it you two are League trainers? You look like it, all haughty and full of yourselves. I used to be one, too, until they kicked me out and blacklisted me."

"Boo-hoo. Where's my violin?" Derflinger taunted as he stared her down. Saito and Louise glared at her as well, but the grunt merely looked at them back with a psychotic glint in her eye.

"They wouldn't have kicked you out without reason," Saito calmly noted, his fist clenched tightly. Idly, he wondered what exactly she did to get blacklisted, only to remember a large League scandal that hit Kalos the year before Team Flare's attack. The more he looked at the girl, the more began to recognize her.

"Wait a second, I know you. You're the one who was caught cheating in the Kalos League finals two years ago!"

"Oh, a fan, are you?" the grunt asked, but Saito merely snarled.

"A fan?! You boosted your Pokémon with illegal steroids while spiking your opponents' Pokémon food with drugs to win matches!"

"Please. Anything's fair game in battle. I just took the next step the League was too stupid to recognize."

"By cheating?!" Louise proclaimed with a scowl, but rather than appear angered or ashamed, the cheater merely laughed.

"Yes!" The grunt was laughing hysterically now. "That's what I love about Team Flare so much! None of that pretentious, holier-than-thou attitudes that held the League back! Just a desire to do whatever it takes to win."

"You're crazy," Louise declared, and the grunt chuckled darkly.

"Possibly, but who are you to judge? I mean, you're the one pointing a stick at me," the grunt pointed out. Then, out of nowhere, a yellow and black blur slammed into Louise and Saito, knocking them onto their backs and ripping Louise's wand out of her hand, sending it skidding across the tile floor.

"Oof!" Louise grunted. Seeing her wand, she quickly scampered over to it, only for the yellow and black blur to swoop in and retrieve it before she could even make it five feet. Louise followed the blur as it rested on the grunt's outstretched arm, and she could see it for what it really was. The Pokémon was a bulkier than usual Ninjask, a Flying and Bug-type Pokémon native to the Hoenn region. It was noted as being among the fastest of all Pokémon species in the entire world, something that the criminal before her clearly emphasized in their training. Given her earlier bragging, Louise guessed that the excess bulk came from those very same illegal substances.

"So, this must be important, I take it?" the grunt asked while twirling the wand in her fingers. She paused to point it at Louise and Saito, but neither of them reacted. They had no reason to. It only worked for someone capable of magic, of which only Louise could do so. The grunt seemed to realize this and scoffed before tossing it to the side as if it were but a piece of trash. Louise frowned at the action, and her Pokémon stepped out in front of her defensively. Saito's Pokémon did the same.

"Let's have some fun!" the Flare grunt announced and released another pair of Pokémon, a Growlithe and a Scyther, who took positions near their trainer. Each of her Pokémon showed signs of substance abuse, with bulkier frames, labored breathing, and bloodshot eyes that made them look quite intimidating. Louise and Saito were both horrified at the sight but remained focused on the task at hand. Both sides stared at each other for a long pause, then at once both sides charged. Streams of fire shot forth from both Brennaraki and the Growlithe, colliding against each other and forming a wall of flame that scorched both the floor and ceiling. Aile used Flame Charge to pass safely through it, briefly parting it as she attempted to strike the Ninjask. The insect briskly dodged her attack, flying above her and slicing at her back with its pincers. Aile shrieked in pain but stayed righted, then banked sharply to retaliate.

Scyther leaped through the fire with its arms crossed just as Maindo and Espirit attacked it with a Shadow Ball and Magical Leaf. The insect broke them apart with its scythes then quickly parried attacks from Ronin and Tanuki with ease. The larger Pokémon was showing itself to be much more skilled that the two melee fighters on Saito's team, and when Tanuki overextended with an outstretched force palm, the Scyther kicked him violently to the side, sending the Riolu flying into an unsuspecting Brennaraki. Her Flamethrower ceased at once, allowing Growlithe's to continue unabated. Espirit and Maindo hastily teleported to safety, reappearing in the rafters above where they continued to rain down attacks at their enemies. Most of their attacks missed, however. Ninjask sped away from them with ease, Aile hot on its tail as they engaged in a fierce firefight, while Growlithe jumped away at the lost moment. Scyther, meanwhile, continued to parry away their attacks while at the same time preventing Ronin and Tanuki from getting in too close.

"Dammit!" Saito cursed under his breath as he watched the battle unfold. Despite Louise's and his own orders, the Team Flare grunt was quickly countering them with her own. Regardless of her reasons, they had to put her down if they had any hope of proceeding.

"Gagh!" Louise seethed as her wand once again got kicked away in the ensuing brawl. She briefly looked up at the battle to give an order to her Pokémon, who followed it without question then continued back to her previous task. When yet another stray blast knocked it away, she angrily pounded against the ground then made her way back to Saito.

"I can't get the wand!" she told him.

"I noticed!" Saito replied.

"What do we do?"

"Working on it!"

As the two trainers thought on how to best proceed, the Pokémon battle continued to rage. Aile and Ninjask were neck and neck. They bobbed and weave through various exhibits, Aile occasionally attacking with a Razor Wind while being careful to avoid the museum pieces. The Ninjask, recognizing this, stayed as close to the exhibits as possible without hitting them. It was aiming to get Aile to purposefully throw off her aim, and presently the plan was working. Aile may not quite understand why, but she knew that the people here wouldn't appreciate those items being damaged in away way.

So when Louise ordered her to Flame Charge through the assembled skeleton of an Aerodactyl to cut off the Ninjask, Aile was greatly confused.

' _What?!_ ' she squawked, which is all Louise could hear. Her trainer, however, understood exactly what Aile was saying and nodded. ' _Alright. But don't get mad at me!_ '

Aile's body was enveloped in a ball of flame and flew as fast as she could towards the Ninjask. The insect, apparently not believing the Fletchling would go through with it, flew behind the skeleton. It let out a surprised chirp when Aile continued, charging straight through the skeleton and shattering it. Her flame-covered body slammed into Ninjask's, scorching the part of the exoskeleton she impacted and sending it hurtling towards the ground. Louise let out a smile at this. Although Ninjasks were very fast and agile Pokémon, they weren't built to take a lot of hits. Especially ones that were super-effective against them, which Fire-type attacks certainly were.

"Quickly, follow up with Quick Attack!" Louise ordered. Aile let out a cry and raced towards the recovering Ninjask. It tried to make a break for it, but Aile forced herself to go fast and faster until finally it seemingly disappeared, only to reappear behind the Bug-type and slam her wing into its side. The Ninjask cried out in pain as it flew over-head, slamming into the ceiling where Espirit and Maindo immediately assault it with their own attacks. When it finally to the ground, it was thoroughly knocked unconscious.

"…that wasn't Quick Attack…" Louise noted. The attack was far too quick for it to have been, and she looked towards Saito try and ascertain what the move was from him. The boy himself was too busy directing his Pokémon in their assault on the Scyther, and so she turned to face Derflinger. The Honedge was presently dueling against the Scyther. Seeing how it wasn't available, she quickly pulled out her Pokédex and rescanned her Pokémon, specifically highlighting her move set. Reading through it, her eyes focused on the newest item on the list.

"Aerial Ace, a Flying-type attack where the Pokémon moves so quickly that it becomes nearly impossible to dodge… Where was _that_ five minutes ago!?" Aile cheeped sheepishly and shrugged, causing Louise to sigh and pinch the bridge of her brow. "Never mind, it's not worth it. Use it on Scyther!"

Aile chirped in response the disappeared as she raced towards the larger insect. Just as she prepared to strike, however, Scyther parried her blow and attacked her with a swipe of its forelimbs, sending her flying back.

"Oh, come on!"

Undeterred, Aile stuck again and again with Aerial Ace, each time the Scyther blocking it with its forelimbs. As it did so, Saito noticed that more and more of his Pokémon's attacks were starting to get through. Given how the Growlithe was still preoccupied with Brennaraki, Maindo, and Espirit, this gave him an idea.

"Maindo, Ronin, swap targets!" he ordered. At once his two Pokémon obeyed, Ronin leaping towards the enemy Growlithe with his scalchop raised high and Maindo teleporting onto the Scyther's face, only to instantly release a Shadow Ball at point-blank range. The attack caused the Bug-type to stumble backwards a bit, allowing Aile to hit it with a Aerial Ace into its elbow. A loud crack followed, and then its left arm hung limply. It growled at Aile and retaliated with a powerful Slash. Aile let out a cry of pain as she slammed into the ground, and when the Scyther moved to continue its assault Tanuki leapt in with a powerful Meteor Mash from the left side. It tried to block with its still functional arm, but Maindo psychically locked onto it and held it in place, allowing Tanuki to slam repeated blows onto its chest. It gasped out in pain and tried to block the attacks, only for Aile to suddenly latch onto its head and repeatedly peck it as fast as she could. Maindo, meanwhile, assaulted Scyther's mind with a bout of Confusion. It flailed back and forth, trying to shake its attackers off, but their repeated assaults eventually brought it to its knees. The Pokémon continued to attack the Scyther relentlessly, and before long it fell to the ground and lost consciousness.

The grunt was beginning to panic at this point. She was down to her last Pokémon, she doubted that Growlithe could stand against all of theirs at once. It'd be over in an instant. She had to get out of there, but increasingly her avenues of escape were being cut off. Frantically, she looked around to spot an opening, only to find none.

Then her eyes settled on the pink-haired girl, who had gone to pick up that stick of hers. Why she was so attached to it, the grunt couldn't begin to guess, but at that moment it left her distracted. An idea quickly formed in her head, and without the time to really think it through, she acted on it.

"Growlithe, use Heat Wave!" she ordered. Growlithe's body began to steam as thermal energy was quickly built up in its small body. Ronin, his eyes widened, attempted to cool it down with a water gun, only the water to evaporate into steam before it could even touch its orange fur. Its body began to glow bright red, and Saito turned to Louise.

"Get down!" he ordered as he and his Pokémon threw themselves to the ground, Louise and her Pokémon following suit. As soon as they did, Growlithe released the Heat Wave from its body, sending a wide swath of flame that scorched everything in sight. Maindo teleported away instantly, allowing him to escape mostly intact, but Espirit was too close to the epicenter to escape in time. The diminutive Kirlia was thrown back with a scream, the flame washing over her and leaving a noticeable burn on her body. Brennaraki, being a Fire-type, allowed the fire to wash over her to little effect, but Espirit's pained cries distracted her long enough for Growlithe to quickly perform a Take Down on her back, sending her flying into the similarly unaffected yet distracted Ronin and stunning both. Aile had managed to fly above the swath of flame, yet a cloud of smoke generated by a suddenly burning gallery clouded her vision and caused her to cough.

"Ronin, put the fire out!" Saito ordered through deep coughs. The Oshawatt began to comply, spewing out a jet of water that doused the fires around them. As his starter completed his task, Saito took a moment to look around to see the status of their Pokémon. Derflinger was currently propping himself up with his sash, the Fire-type attack having proved to be quite effective against him. Tanuki was in a slightly better shape, a slight burn on his arms from trying to block the attack. Espirit, however, was badly burned across much of her body, and it was hard for her to move without a jolt of pain shooting through her body. To his surprise, Maindo was hovering over her, trying to figure out what to do. Louise was picking herself off the ground as well, her clothes slightly singed and smoking, but Saito's eyes drifted over to a slight burn on her left arm and shoulder. It was slightly exposed to the fire, and it looked like it hurt.

Louise noticed Saito's gaze, and with a wince she shook her head. "I'm fine, don't worry. Where is she?"

"What?" Saito asked before turning around to where the Flare grunt previously stood. She was gone, having escaped during the confusion. Louise noticed the status of Espirit and quickly moved over to her, but Saito stopped her.

"No, I got this! Go after her!" he declared, causing her to look at him in confusion.

"What? I'm not going to-!"

"She's getting away! Go!" he again ordered. Louise looked at him for a moment then back through the now swinging door the grunt had fled through. Louise then felt Aile land on her shoulder, and the two nodded at each other then back at Saito. Louise then ran as fast as she could down the hall, Aile flying after her.

Saito watched her go and felt a sense of relief wash over him. That relief turned into surprise when he heard a surprised yip come from his side. Looking down, he saw Brennaraki still next to her wounded teammate, and Saito realized to his horror that, in her haste, Louise had accidentally left her starter behind.

"Ah, crap…" he grunted. "Louise, wait!"

Luckily for him, Louise hadn't made it too far down the hall so that she could still hear him. Realizing her error, she ran back and held open the door, beckoning Brennaraki to chase after her. Brennaraki did so, intending to reach her trainer.

What happened next happened so fast that it was hard for Saito or Louise to keep track of it all.

First, a single metal ball, covered in a sickly blue aura, shot out of the air and slammed into Louise's wrist, knocking her wand out of her grip and sending it skidding across the room. A second ball then slammed into her chest, knocking the air out of her lungs and sending her flying down the hall. Brennaraki yipped in surprise and turned towards the source, only for eight more glowing balls to explode out of the nearby wall and cascade like a fast-moving wave towards her. She leapt out of the way, back towards Saito, and they both watched in horror as the balls moved faster and faster to the point where none of them could track exactly where they were. They could also hear deep gouges being carved into the tile floor, which cast up small clouds of debris that forced them further back. They had been completely cut them off from Louise and Aile. Angered, Brennaraki fired a Flamethrower into the sea of metal balls, only it to be completely ineffective.

"Save your breath," a man quietly said. Saito turned around, trying to find the source but finding nothing. His Pokémon gathered around him, Brennaraki with them, while he himself held a whimpering Espirit in his arms.

"You know," the voice continued, "I've led this cell for quite some time now. I've learned many things during that time. Managed to teach some of it to others. I think I'm going to pass some of that to you, if you don't mind."

Having located the source of the taunting, Saito turned to glare at a silhouette standing near the now open employee door. The boy found it hard to do so, as the man was shrouded not by shadow but instead by intense light given off by the Rapidash and Zebstrika flanking him. A sickly blue aura covered his arms, stemming from his chest. He could make out that the man was wearing a large pair of goggles as well as a sunhat, but nothing else about his attire.

"Lesson one," Joshua Carnegie said as he stepped forward, "always stay aware of your surroundings."

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! Things are pressing onward, and the Museum Heist is well underway. Exciting things are ongoing, and we hope you all enjoy.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **Tiamatio** : I'm glad that you're enjoying the story so much! As for the PWE, yes a lot of the characters over there are JoJo references. More just the names, really.

 **Drewd00d** : Don't worry about it. And thank you for the congratulations. Yes, the pace may have slowed down a fair bit, but we are committed to seeing it through.

And yes, we felt that given Ambrette was famous for its beaches in-universe, a beach episode was fitting. But, we wanted to give our own spin on it. It was less of harem hijinks like the actual FoZ beach episode/OVA (which, by the way, we are committed to removing entirely) and more just funny moments, character interactions, and focusing on characters who haven't had much focus as of late. As for how they got those mirrors? Its a mystery... (* _cue Twilight Zone theme*_ )

And yes, you were correct that an explosion caught everyone's attention. But, now she knows to make sure something like that won't happen again and will be teaching Espirit and Maindo Hypnosis in order to keep any stealth in check.

As for the Elizabeth sections, that criticism is valid. Firebird is in charge of those segments, and we have come to an agreement that her segments are too far removed. So we'll be working on bringing her in line with the overall story pretty soon. As for the descriptions, that can be chalked up to a difference in writing style that we're working on reconciling.

And I'm glad that you're happy about the extinction bit. Funnily enough, over on Spacebattles someone also pointing out the whole extinction thing. I couldn't just go back and edit it out, so I figured I might as well go with it and create a little joke at my expense from it. Now, as for positive additions, note that for any serious things we will not be deviating from our present plan, however if you or anyone else suggest a meaningful moment that we agree with, we might consider it.

Note that this is not a call for OCs. We will not be doing that. Any and all OCs have been made for the story already and we will not be expanding on that list.

And don't worry about my recommendations. While I would love for you or anyone else to read both of them, I understand that not everyone has the same interests. Still, if you ever do want to check them out, I would greatly appreciate it and I feel that everyone would be able to follow along pretty well.

That's it for this update. See you all next time, and let us know what you feel about the chapter!


	43. Season 1, Episode 9, Chapter 6

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 9, Chapter 6**

[~][~]

Louise could only watch in horror as the metallic orbs blocked her off from Saito. She desperately wanted to go help her friend, but the speed the orbs were moving at made that desire impossible. They were akin to a sea of sawblades, and she didn't want to think about what would happen to her should she attempt to cross it. Her thoughts drifted to Espirit and Maindo, thinking that maybe they could teleport her over, but even that wouldn't work. Maindo wasn't powerful enough to teleport a full-grown human with him, and neither could Espirit even when she was at full strength.

She was stuck, and there wasn't anything she could do about it.

"Hey!" Louise finally shouted towards the Flare Admin. "Leave my friend alone!"

"I would, had you two decided not to interfere," the Admin replied, his two Pokémon keeping Saito at bay. The boy was infuriated, his fists tightly clenched, but made no sudden movements lest the enemy Pokémon attack him. "But here we are. Two meddling kids in way over their heads. You made me do this."

Louise ground her teeth and glared daggers into the smirking Admin. She was about to send Aile over to assist, the Fletchling clearly wanting to, only for Saito to quickly glance at her from the corner of his eye. His hand was strapped to his side, his palm rotated towards her, and a quick thrust of his finger against it directed Louise's attention towards the roof. For a moment, she saw Maindo readying himself to catch the criminal off-guard, and another shake of his hand told her not to try and assist. She knew what he wanted her to do, and Louise wanted to argue, to protest that there was no way she would just leave him. But another look at the orbs separating them told her, once again, that she couldn't.

Reluctantly, Louise turned tail and ran down the corridor, intending to catch the fleeing Flare Grunt. Carnegie laughed and looked back at an infuriated Saito, and his grin grew wider.

"Look how she runs. Should have done that from the start. But if she thinks she can get out now, she's sorely mistaken." Carnegie let his threat hang in the air, and Saito's fury grew as did his Pokémon. Brennaraki, covering a still heavily burned Espirit, snarled and bared her fangs, but rather than feel intimidated, Carnegie merely laughed.

"What are you going to do?" he asked, throwing his arms wide. "In case you haven't noticed, my Pokémon are a _lot_ stronger than yours, so please. For your sake, surrender now or prepare to fight."

Saito remained quiet, looking contemplative. For a moment, Carnegie allowed himself to believe the young boy was seriously considering his suggestion, only for Saito to instead smirk and chuckle.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Nothing, it's just… You think you're intimidating. It's cute," Saito responded and shook his head. From behind his goggles, Carnegie's eyes widened before he ground his teeth. He prepared to order his Pokémon to attack, only for Saito to cut him off.

"Now the _last_ Flare Admin I dealt with, ho boy. He could do intimidating, and I didn't even meet the guy in-person. Just met his Lucario and Gallade and let me tell you; if a man can train two Pokémon to behave like they did, that is one seriously messed up dude."

"What are you—" Carnegie stopped as Saito's words fully registered. A Lucario _and_ a Gallade belonging to a Flare Admin? There were many isolated cells across Kalos, each working under there own Admin and utilizing their own strategies, but only one had both a Lucario and a Gallade. "Maxwell… You two were at the daycare…"

"Yep," Saito confirmed, just as the Shadow Ball Maindo had been silently building was launched and hit right behind Carnegie and his team, creating a small explosion that sent him sprawling to the ground. Immediately, Brennaraki fired a Psybeam at the distracted Zebstrika while Ronin fired a Water Gun at the Rapidash. Tanuki, meanwhile, assaulted the electric horse with a Meteor Mash, slamming his metallic paw against the side of its head and snapping it back. Maindo focused his mind, trying to assault the quickly recovering Flare Admin, only to be surprised when his Psychic-type attack did absolutely nothing.

' _Oh, that's Tauros-shit!_ ' he cursed just as Rapidash noticed him and fired a Flamethrower attack towards him. Maindo teleported away from the flames, and when he reappeared he fired another Shadow Ball towards his attackers. Rapidash took the attack and charged forward in a Flame Charge, forcing the Ralts to back away quickly.

Carnegie watched this with a scowl on his face and turned to face Saito, only to find the boy throwing a sucker punch towards his face. Carnegie turned, allowing the attack to move past him, then grabbed the arm and pivoted. Saito was flung away, carried by his momentum towards the balls, but he was able to stop himself from running into them.

"Grr," Saito grunted as he turned to face Carnegie, his fists held in front of his body. Carnegie scowled at him, only to duck as Derflinger swung himself horizontally. A sickly blue glow encased his arm as he grabbed the Honedge's blade and threw him away, showing no signs of discomfort or pain. Saito watched with his eyes wide as the glow faded, seeing how it emanated from his chest, but whether the man was an Aura-user or something else entirely Saito couldn't say.

"Don't you see! You may have beaten Maxwell, but he's nothing compared to me!" Carnegie shouted, again throwing his arms to the side while stepping forward. Derflinger, floating by Saito's side, focused his eye on Carnegie's chest. He could sense that something was there, but he couldn't quite tell what exactly it was. Saito looked at the ancient Pokémon before looking back at Carnegie, cracking his neck as he stepped forward to meet his challenge.

"Let's prove that, shall we?"

* * *

Louise ran down the hall as fast as her legs could carry her. Her muscles were beginning to burn under the exhaustion, but she pressed herself forward in her attempt to catch up to the fleeing Flare Grunt.

"Why don't you quit?!" the Grunt demanded as she knocked over a podium, trying to block Louise's path. The noble, rather than be dissuaded, merely vaulted over it and continued her pursuit. She didn't deign the criminal with a response, merely glaring at the back of her head intensely. Louise then whipped out her wand and aimed at the girl as they neared the end of their hallway.

"Rock Smash!" Louise yelled, her spell hitting the wall right next to the Flare Grunt. To the criminal's surprise, the wall gave way and collapsed into rubble, causing her to lose her footing and fall onto her back. Looking back up at the advancing Louise, the Flare Grunt reached for her Pokéball, only for Aile to swoop down and snatch the ball away, hurting her wrist in the process. The criminal tried to crawl away, only to stop herself when Louise finally caught up and pointed her wand threateningly towards her.

"Don't. Move," Louise ordered. Knowing what exactly the stick could do, the Grunt raised her hands up, showing that she was unarmed. "Good. Now, I'm going ask you a few questions."

"Shoot," the Grunt replied, glaring at her from behind her glasses.

"How many of you are there? Why are trying to steal from the museum?"

"Fossils and Fossil Pokémon are rare commodities. They fetch quite the pretty penny. You're a smart, you figure out the rest."

"You didn't answer the first question." Louise punctuated her statement by pressing the tip of her wand at the Grunt's forehead. Taking a deep gulp, the Grunt continued.

"There's ten of us, not including our leadership and myself. There may not be a lot of us, but we more than make up for it." The grunt then smiled wickedly. "I imagine they're all gone by now, despite your best efforts. Heh, the way I see it, your little meddling failed specta—"

She was cut off by Louise violently socking the girl across the head, knocking her out. Aile, perched on glass display case, looked at her trainer with a tilted head as Louise tied the unconscious criminal to a pole.

"What?" Louise asked as she finished. "I sincerely doubt she would have told us anything else. Besides, we already know where they'd try to flee from. Come on, let's get to the cargo doors. If we're lucky, we might be able to cut them off."

Aile squawked in response, and the two then made their way through the dark corridors. They could see further evidence of Flare's theft as they passed by shattered display cases with missing fossils. Nothing else was stolen, telling Louise that the criminal was telling the truth. She couldn't afford to stay and gawk, however. Increasing her pace, Louise pressed on. When she neared the place where Saito and herself had first entered the building, she paused at the entrance to the garage to see that the trucks were, miraculously, still there.

"Oh, thank the Founder," she muttered, relieved that Team Flare hadn't yet escaped. Louise then perked her head up in bewilderment, wondering just _why_ were still here. She doubted it was a case of 'honor among thieves', so their continued presence was most curious. It was then that she heard a faint, muffled sound emanating from the opposite side of the wall. She pressed her ear against the wall, trying to hear exactly what it was, and to her surprise she recognized the sounds of both yelling and battle.

It didn't take her long to realize why Team Flare would be battling; someone was here. Louise threw herself from the wall and tried to open the door, wanting to get out and help their apparent ally, only to find that the door was now locked. Part of her wanted to be dramatic and blow the door open, but she quickly shook that idea out of her head and simply unlocked it. She then threw the door open and ran outside, only to see the rest of Team Flare attacking a single young man and his six fully evolved Pokémon.

"Wait, Calem?!" Louise yelled out as she recognized her newest friend.

"Louise?!" Calem shouted back as he turned to face her, recognizing the noble instantly. "What are you doing here?!"

"I could ask you the same thing!" Louise responded just as the other criminals noticed her presence. Louise took a moment to study all of them. They were clearly injured, many of their Pokémon sporting wounds and deep bruises, their breath labored and heavy. Calem's, in contrast, was in much better shape. A few bruises here and there, but nothing to the other side's extent.

"Oh, Arceus' sake!" one of the Flare Grunts wailed. It was then that Louise noted that, for whatever reason, every single member of this flare cell was a woman. Whatever details that offered of the Flare Admin she didn't care to think about it, instead deciding to focus on the task at hand.

The criminal cell divided their attention on both Louise and Calem, with most focusing on Calem's six versus Louise's one. She was fine with that, and as she watched Calem's Pokémon charge forward to engage his horde, Louise began to order Aile to engage enemies of her own.

"Aile, use Tailwind and follow it up with Agility!" Louise ordered. Aile whipped up a Tailwind while her body shone with purple energy, allowing the diminutive Fletchling to vastly increase her speed. Louise could see that Calem's Pokémon were also experiencing a speed boost. A couple of Golbats and Hoothoots flew up to face her, but Louise promptly ordered Aile to send them down with a barrage of Razor Winds. Many of the enemy Pokémon fell back to the ground, their wounds preventing them from acting their full potential, but one the Golbats was able to stay aloft. The chiropteran, with its larger, leathery wings, flew up to face Aile head on. Its fangs glowed purple as they became imbued with poison and tried to bite down with its massive mouth – idly, Louise wondered where the mouth began and the body ended – but Aile was able to swerve around the Pokémon and strike its back with a Steel Wing. The heavy blow knocked her opponent back, but it quickly recovered and hovered around to face her.

Aile stared back at her opponent for but a moment before using Quick Attack to close the distance. Golbat turned its body sharply, causing Aile to speed past it to no effect, before firing barbs of Poison Sting at her. Most missed, but a few managed to hit their mark and embed themselves into Aile's feathers. Aile grunted at the pain but flew around to attack the Golbat once again. She fired yet another Razor Wind at the creature, who blocked most of them with its wings. The lack of wingbeats caused it to briefly descend, causing the Golbat to quickly flap its wings to stay aloft and leaving itself defenseless. Louise and Aile exploited its current defenseless state by using another Quick Attack, striking its face with Aile's beak. The blow sent Golbat flying back, tumbling through the air before finally stopping itself just before it would have struck a nearby power pole. Aile allowed herself to feel smug at the successful attack, only to suddenly feel a deep pain course through her boy. Her wingbeats faltered for but a moment, and she looked back to where the pain originated to find a few barbs poking out of her. Louise, although unable to accurately make out what exactly was sticking out of Aile, did recognize the symptoms of a Pokémon being poisoned.

"Aile, finish it off, quick!" Louise ordered, wanting to get her Pokémon to safety and administer an Antidote.

"Hey!" one of the Flare Grunts she was fighting against piped up, "My Golbat is not an 'it'! He's a majestic creature!"

"He's a flying mouth, that's what he is!"

"HOW DARE YOU?!"

As Louise continued to fight on the ground, Aile remained up in the air. Golbat smirked at the sight of Aile in pain, only for the Fletchling to reengage. Golbat flew as fast as he could to meet her head on, but just before they made contact, Aile swept herself up to fly above his back. Before could react, Aile used Peck as hard as she could on a certain point near his shoulder. As soon as she did, Golbat felt his wing go limp and found himself unable to move it. Surprised and feeling numb, he tried to keep himself aloft with only one wing, only to find it incredibly difficult to do so. Aile then stuck his face with a Wing Attack, sending him rolling back as she followed it up with a Razor Wind. Golbat tried to retaliate with another barrage of Poison Stings, but Aile used her superior speed and his newfound lack of mobility to easily dodge the attacks by flying downward. She then swopped up, having used gravity to further increase her speed, and slammed into Golbat as fast as she could. She then followed it up with an Aerial Ace, swiping her wing across Golbat's body repeatedly until he could only keep himself up. He plummeted to the ground and stuck the concrete with a dull thud. He tried to push himself up, only to collapse into unconsciousness soon after.

"Golbat, no!" Golbat's trainer wailed. She couldn't rush over to tend to him before the last of Flare's Pokémon were routed by Calem's. For a moment, Louise was surprised, only to figure that she was so focused on the battles she was having that she paid no attention to Calem's performance. The Team Flare Grunts, knowing that they were now hopelessly outmatched, grumbled and threw their hands in the air. Calem smiled and walked over to Louise, who herself was attending to an injured Aile.

"You good?" he asked as his Gogoat tied the criminals up with long, thick vines.

Louise nodded, "I'm good. Thanks for the help. Why were you here, anyway?"

"You first," he replied, and Louise sighed and shrugged.

"Saito and I saw an Absol, who led us here. When we saw the trucks and the unlocked backdoor—"

"Oh, you dumbasses!" several of the Flare Grunts suddenly yelled out to two of the Grunts. Louise recognized the two as the ones who she and Saito first ran into. The two of them looked a combination of sheepish and slightly afraid, but Calem shut them all up by having his Tauros freeze their mouths shut with a careful application of Ice Beam. They groaned through the block of ice, but otherwise did nothing.

"Continue," he started, but Louise shook her head.

"No, that's pretty much it. I decided to press forward, Saito followed me in, where we tried to hold Team Flare off before the police arrived. What about you? Why are you up so late?"

"Some guy living in the mountains ordered a pizza, and I had to take it to him. On my way back, I heard an explosion coming from here – which was you, I take it?" Louise nodded in affirmation, and Calem continued. "Saw these bozos trying to make a break for it, and we've been in a battle ever since. Speaking of which, Dodrio, pop these tires. Don't want to take any chances."

Dodrio did as instructed and want to pop the thick tires with her beaks, each puncture releasing a hiss of air. Louise watched as the semi-truck lowered to the ground as the tires deflated one by one, but she only allowed herself to relax once both trucks were fully immobilized.

"Well, glad that's—"

Calem's remarks were cut off when Dodrio was suddenly attacked by multiple rocks. Caught completely off guard, each super-effective attack rocked her body before she slammed into the trailer, denting it slightly. The attacks only stopped once Mudsdale threw himself in front of the blows, absorbing the attacks with his large body and allowing his comrade some much needed reprieve. Dodrio, meanwhile, slumped over and fell to the ground in a daze, and Calem shouted out her name while running over to her. Louise, meanwhile, twirled around in shock to where the attacks had come from. She saw that one of the garage bay doors was open, where the silhouettes of a woman and her large Pokémon were standing. The woman stepped forward first, revealing a short woman wearing a red shirt and black pants, her red hair tied into twin ponytails, with her eyes hidden behind dark orange sunglasses. What caused Louise to step back, however, was the Pokémon that stepped out after her. It was large, looking vaguely like a shrimp, and covered in blue-and-black plates. Louise pulled out her Pokédex and canned the creature.

" _Armaldo, the Plate Pokémon, and the evolved form of Anorith. Armaldos thrived in—"_

Louise's Pokédex was abruptly shut off when the Armaldo attempted to take advantage of Louise's distracted state by firing another Rock Blast towards her. The attack sent Louise and Calem diving for cover behind a trailer, the aluminum denting with a loud bang upon each impact. They only allowed themselves to look once the barrage ended, and they could see that the lieutenant was now joined by a familiar looking Grunt. Louise groaned in annoyance at her having been freed, but to her surprise Calem's face warped into one of absolute rage.

"Oh, you got to be shitting me…" the grunt complained as Calem's calm face warped into one filled with rage.

"Isabel…" he growled. "You drugged my Pokémon, you bitch!" Calem's curse was punctuated by his Pokémon roaring at her, but if the girl seemed scared she didn't show it.

"Wait, you know her?" Louise asked in surprise.

"Yes," Calem replied through a snarl. "She and I fought against each other in the Pokémon League years ago. Drugged my Pokémon to try and win."

"Oh, you gonna cry, little man? You wanna rematch, is that it?" Isabel stepped forward, almost as if she were serious, while reaching into her pocket and beginning to pull out what appeared to be a syringe, only for the lieutenant to snap her fingers and stop her in her tracks. In a complete one-eighty from her previous personality, Isabel seemed cowed and relented. "Yes, ma'am. At once."

Isabel then made her way towards her tied up comrades, pulling out a knife to cut them out of the vines that bound them. Louise and Calem moved to intercept, only for Armaldo to step in front of her defensively. The two sides stared at each other for a moment, sizing the other up, before Calem yelled and ordered his Pokémon to attack.

* * *

Dennis Nedry sat panicked in front of his monitors. Everything was not going to plan. In fact, it was rapidly turning into a complete disaster. Sure, that CZ woman had managed to get the captured Flare goons freed and currently kicking the two trainers outside's asses, but the fact that they were ever captured at all was the problem. None of this was supposed to happen. They were supposed to be in an out in the span of an hour. No one would have known they'd even been in until the following morning when the museum workers would find that all their precious fossils and priceless lab equipment were stolen right from under their noses. They wouldn't have known Nedry would have _allowed_ this to happen, and so he'd feign the part of a horrified coworker while internally cackling with glee at having pulled one over that slave-driver Mr. Hammond.

Only, that's not what happened. They weren't even halfway done before those two meddling Pokémon trainers stumbled upon them. Why they were even up at this hour he didn't pretend to know, nor did he know exactly how they managed to even get inside. As best as he could guess, some idiot left the back door unlocked, but them getting as far as they did without anyone knowing was, unfortunately, his fault. He loathed to admit it, even to himself, but Nedry's decision to turn off all the security cameras to prevent any evidence of their transgressions meant that no one on their side could see inside the building either, allowing the two near limitless access. They only discovered their presence after a battle broke out. He then turned on the cameras, but at that point it was already too late. Most the cell left to try and take what they had and run while Carnegie went to capture the kids, trying to save what was left of his plan, but that was dashed as soon as the _third_ kid arrived. This one was much stronger than the other two, managing to hold off several goons at once, and even now he could hear sirens closing in.

In short, he was doomed.

"No…nonononono…" he mumbled and paced back and forth. His eyes drifted towards the monitors displaying the main room, where Carnegie was fighting against the first boy. Carnegie was managing to hold his own thanks to his much more powerful Pokémon and generous use of his own apparent mystical abilities, emphasizing speed more than anything else, but it was quickly becoming apparent that battlefield tactics were not his forte. Whatever disadvantages the boy had against the Flare Admin in terms of strength was balanced by his superior tactical ability. The boy appeared to be picking up on gaps in Carnegie's strategy and began exploiting them to full effect.

"Come on, Carnegie… Get your act together," Nedry begged, leaning back against a counter where a tubular machine was resting while his attention was focused squarely on the screens before him. So focused on seeing how the battle played out that he missed a small beep emanating from the machine, followed by a hiss of air. Slowly, the top of the machine retracted, allowing a cloud of white smoke to fume out of the top. Only when the cloud reached past his face did Nedry finally notice, causing him to jump back from the machine while turning to face it. He began to see a dark silhouette emerge from behind the smoke. It was a small, bipedal creature, with a short, thick tail balancing out a blocky and oversized head. Two tiny arms questioningly reached out to grasp the air around it, and a spiked collar erupted from around its neck.

"What in Arceus' name are you?" he asked himself, only to flinch when the creature sharply turned its head to face him. A low growl soon came out of the creature as it studied the overweight man intensely. More of the smoke began to dissipate, revealing the brown-scaled hide of the Pokémon, its jaw a dull grey with orange horns atop its head and tail. His collar and claws were bone-white, and striking red eyes narrowed into slits regarded the man with a primal fury.

It stepped forward, causing Nedry to step back. The man was shaking, while the revived Pokémon growled and barred its fangs. It stepped forward again and Nedry began to panic. He held up his shaking hands in a placating gesture. This seemed to give the creature pause, causing a sense of hopeful relief to flood through Nedry. An idea then formed in his head, a desperate one to be sure, and he quickly jumped upon it.

"Easy, boy. I'm a friend, see?" Nedry declared while pulling out a chocolate bar. The creature tilted his head to study it, and when Nedry waved the bar around its eyes and head followed. "You want this? You want this? Here."

Nedry broke off a piece of chocolate and tossed it to the Pokémon, who attempted to catch it in its jaws. Still unused to life, its attempt was fumbled and the block clattered to the ground. It looked at the piece of food with an annoyed glared before glancing at Nedry. Its eyes dared him to move, and so Nedry stayed in rooted in place as the Pokémon thought on how to get off its perch. Its body swayed from side to side as it gauged the distance between the counter and the tile floor, and when it was satisfied, it jumped down. It briefly lost its footing and tripped, but quickly righted itself before slowly walking towards the chocolate block. Sniffing it and nudging it with its nose, the Pokémon determined the confection was safe to eat and chomped into it, swallowing the block whole. Nedry saw its eyes widen as it saved the taste, and he let out a relieved sigh.

"You like chocolate, boy?" he asked, shaking the remains of the chocolate bar in his hand. The Pokémon shook its head enthusiastically, and Nedry smiled. "Here, fetch!"

Nedry through the bar to the far end of the room, where the Pokémon immediately gave chase. Nedry waited until it disappeared behind a desk, and only then did he slowly move to the back door to the laboratory. Reaching the door, he briefly shot a look behind him to try and see the Pokémon. Finding nothing, he pulled out his employee ID card and opened the door, sighing in relief once the locking mechanism unlocked and flashed green.

"Thank Arceus it's an idiot," he sighed as he prepared to step through the threshold. "No wonder they went extinct."

Just before Nedry could take another step, a low growl emanating right next to his ear stopped him cold.

* * *

The soft-skin went down easily, flailing and screaming as it bit and tore off its blue-tinged hide. The flesh tasted awful, and that was only the surface layer. The Pokémon, in his young, primitive mind, quickly decided that the rest of the creature would be just as unappetizing, so he wouldn't eat him. He couldn't let it try to attack him, however, so he tackled the man into the nearest wall. Its eyes rolled into the back of its fleshy, rotund head and its body slacked. Then Pokémon then grunted in accomplishment, licking his lips at the memory of the food the soft-skin had given him. Compared to that delicacy, the soft-skin tasted like absolute filth, so he felt no shame in leaving him there as he went to the slightly open part of the wall. Seeing it as a way out of his current environment, the Pokémon paused at its mouth. A sense of tepid curiosity filled its small body, and for the first time in its brief existence, it didn't know what to do. Before everything was easily decided upon. After all, the soft-skin was clearly a threat, or at the very least prey given how it tried to distract him with an offering while its fat body shook from fear. He had no idea what it has said afterwards as it tried to escape, but the tone of its voice told him that was undoubtedly an insult. Obviously the soft-skin wasn't as smart as it thought itself to be, otherwise it wouldn't have done so.

Still, what's done is done. The creature had paid for its insolence, leaving the Pokémon to focus on himself for the first time. He scanned the environment for the first time. It felt cold and lifeless, sterile beyond anything he was comfortable with. Yet at the same time, it was the only environment he had ever known. Part of him felt that statement was wrong somehow, that he was meant for something else, but for the life of him he didn't know where that feeling came from.

He then looked forward, past the hole in the wall. He could feel the difference in the air. Outside, it was warmer, more natural looking. At the same time, something didn't feel quite right about it, yet a sense of deep curiosity compelled him forward. Slowly, he tentatively stepped out into the next room, glancing from side to side as it scanned for any enemies. There were none, so he pressed forward.

The Pokémon passed by blades of grass, momentarily stopping when he saw three blue scaled Pokémon with long necks and yellow frills staring out across the stony field he himself was walking across. They themselves were standing in a small splotch of ice, which immediately stuck him as odd given how he was in a grassland. He growled menacingly at them, warning them not to try and attack, but when they didn't even respond he changed from feeling threatened to merely curious.

' _Why aren't they moving?_ ' he thought as he tentatively stepped towards them, sniffing the air as he did. Something smelled off about them, but he only realized what it was when he finally touched one. The Pokémon were cold to the touch, lifeless and fake. A quick bite to the hind as a test proved it. Instead of meat, he got some white fluff that tasted like nothing but clogged his mouth like no tomorrow. He spat it out and shook his head, trying to rid the taste from his mouth. When he got as much out as he could, he angrily kicked the fluff away before moving on.

Walking through the stone field once again, the Pokémon began to see more and more of the fake Pokémon in various environments. He was growing more and more confused with each set he passed. Mighty winged dragons, ones that he instinctually feared, did nothing more than pose dramatically. Shelled Pokémon laid across wet rocks, only the water itself turned out to be nothing more than an illusion. He was quickly finding that everything around him was fake, from the rocks to the trees to the grass. Nothing made sense.

' _Is the entire world like this?_ ' he wondered, only to pause when he came across yet another set of fake Pokémon. He thought about leaving them behind, but when he looked at them more closely his eyes widened in surprise. The fakes looked just like him. Wondrously, the Pokémon stepped forward to inspect them more closely. Behind a clear wall was, to his further surprise, a set of dark bones forming a complete skeleton. The other clear walls were empty, some even shattered, but this one was miraculously undisturbed. He took a sniff of the bones and discovered that they smelled more like very old rock. Unlike the other rocks he had found, however, these were real.

' _Is… is that… me?_ ' he wondered as he gazed upon the display with his complete attention. He then became aware of the similarities between himself and the rocks, namely that they were the only things in this entire place that were real. He wondered if, somehow, he and the bone-shaped rocks were related, that he was born from them. When he emerged from his egg, he noticed the distinct lack of egg shells or his mother and father. At first, he thought that they were simply gone now, but now he was beginning to think that perhaps they never existed.

The thought alarmed him, but before he could ruminate on his existence more, he heard a dull thud come from a nearby room. His head snapped to face it, his eyes narrowing once again into slits as he let out a low growl. Stepping forward towards the source, his body hunched low to keep a small profile, he walked past another opening in the wall into a narrow corridor. The noises were becoming louder and more pronounced, and he was recognizing them as the sounds of battle. He felt his blood begin to boil, the instinctual urge to fight growing with each passing moment until he finally reached the battle arena.

Almost as soon as he entered the room, a small white and green-capped fairy Pokémon was thrown into a wall, denting it slightly. He recoiled at the sight of the fairy, having an instinctual urge to get away from it before it hurt him, only for the Fairy to not only ignore his presence but instead form large shadowy balls in his hands and let out a roar. A pitiful attempt at one, at least by his own standards, but a roar nonetheless. Much to his own surprise, the voice echoed from within his own mind rather than come from the fairy's lips, causing his eyes to widen and look around from side to side in confusion. The fairy leaped forward, and another explosion followed, sending shards of rock and rubble spraying out, some of which hitting against his hide and forcing him to take cover.

Poking his head behind the wall, he watched as the battle commenced before him. He didn't recognize any of the creatures fighting one another, but he could recognize it as being very lopsided. On one side were two four-legged Pokémon with thin fur and manes that raced along its back. The yellow-furred Pokémon's mane and tail was literal fire while the black-furred quadruped's reminded him of electricity. Behind them was a single soft-flesh, only his skin was orange and pink rather than blue. His eyes were weird, being extremely large black orbs that covered much of his face, while his head spread out from the very top and formed a frill. His body itself appeared to be covered in orange-stained armor plates with crisscrossing stipes of brown, the ends of which ended in shiny stubs, and his black feet looked and sounded thick and heavy with each step. Orange flesh came out from its black feet, and around the soft-flesh's neck was a single piece of white fur. All together, they were unnerving, as was the blue aura emanating from his body in an impressive display of power, so he turned to look at their opponents.

Unlike them, they were much smaller in stature. In addition to the white and green-capped fairy, he saw a blue ocean-dweller wielding a shell as a weapon alongside a blue biped. A purple-grey furred Pokémon was hovering protectively over another fairy, this one appearing to be burned and in pain. Judging from the smoke and steam billowing out of its ears and nostril, he had to guess the mammal was a fire-starter. Behind them was a smaller, likely young, blue-and-pink skinned soft flesh. Its back protruded outwards, but to his surprise the soft-flesh took it off completely and pulled out a small object, pointing one end at the injured fairy. The other soft-flesh attempted to take advantage of this one's distraction, launching a shadowy orb forward with an outstretched arm, only for the fire-starter to destroy it with a fireball of its own.

"Thanks, Brennaraki. Maindo, Ronin, keep him busy!" it yelled as it sprayed a watery compound onto the burn. The fairy winced in pain, but slowly relaxed as the compound seeped into its skin. The other fairy and the water-dweller, however, shot forward and engaged their much larger combatants. Water and shadow danced against fire and electricity, the much larger Pokémon easily taking the hits from their smaller opponents while trying to attack with their own. In turn, the smaller Pokémon were dodging to the best of their ability, but the bruises on their bodies showed that they weren't completely successful. The larger Pokémon also had wounds of their own, but they weren't as substantial as the others.

"Hey, how's it going?" someone suddenly asked, causing him to jump up in surprise and sharply turn around to face the speaker. He saw a shiny, elongated Pokémon that was unlike anything he had ever seen. It didn't look as though it was even alive, but the energy he sensed from it told him that it was a ghost. He growled a warning at the creature, but rather than appear frightened it instead chuckled.

"Easy, kid. I'm not your enemy, I'm your friend. We all are." Another fiery explosion punctuated the creature's response, followed by a roar. "Well, not orange guy over there. He's a jerk."

The ancient Pokémon raised his eyebrow and turned back to face the battle then back to the floating creature. Seeing how it wasn't looking for conflict now, he felt a sense of curiosity override his instincts and began to let out a low growl.

" _How…understand…me?_ " he garbled out, unused to speaking. The creature didn't seem to mind and began to answer.

"I'm a Pokémon, just like you," it said. "Specifically, a Honedge. Name's Derflinger."

He tiled his head in confusion. " _Honedge?... Derflinger?_ "

"Ah, Honedge is my species' name. Derflinger's my personal name. You're a Tyrunt?"

" _A…'Tyrunt'?_ " He was finding that speaking was slowly growing easier, and Derflinger nodded in a strange motion with its narrow head.

"Yeah, a Tyrunt." When the Tyrunt didn't answer, Derflinger grew somber in understanding. "Right, you would have just woken up."

Tyrunt's eyes widened in realization. This 'Derflinger' knew things that he didn't. He might be able to answer the questions burning him up from the inside. Curiosity and a desire to know screamed at him to ask the important questions he had been forming, and so he began to speak once again.

" _Everything…fake,_ " he stated. " _Rocks…plants…water and air. Only me real. Where egg? Where mother and father? Where other 'Tyrunts'?_ "

Derflinger sighed and looked at a clear wall, focusing on the rocky bones held within. The Tyrunt followed his gaze for a moment before looking back up at him expectantly, then Derflinger looked back down at him.

"Listen, kid," he began, "understand this. You are real, no matter what anyone else tells you. You got that?" Tyrunt, after a moment, nodded, and Derflinger took a sigh before continuing.

"You…don't have a mother and father, not in the traditional sense at least. Yesterday that human boy over there," he pointed his sash towards the younger soft-flesh – or human, as he called it -, while Tyrunt's eyes widened, "found you…in a manner of speaking."

" _What…mean? Was asleep?_ "

Derflinger took a hissing breath, trying to figure out how to break it to him, but the look on Tyrunt's face told him that trying to diminish his revival would only do more harm than good in the long run.

"…No. Kid, when we found you, you were that." He pointed at the rocky bones, and Tyrunt tilted his head in confusion.

" _Me don't understand._ " Another explosion caused shards of rubble to burst out, causing Derflinger to briefly glance back towards the battle before looking back at the Tyrunt.

"You were a fossil. Bones so old that they turned into rock." Tyrunt's eyes widened at this statement. He turned to look at the fossils once again, seeing them suddenly in a brand-new light. "The last of the Tyrunts died out millions of years ago."

Tyrunt remained silent, feeling his arms slack and his jaw clench. His heartbeat began to quicken, and without taking his eyes off the fossils he said, " _Then…if Tyrunts dead, how I alive?_ "

Derflinger placed his sash on Tyrunt's back in a comforting gesture. "The humans here… They managed to find a way to bring you back to life from just a jawbone thanks to the power of modern science. Saito knew this, and when he found your jawbone just two days ago he brought you here to be revived. And now you're here."

Tyrunt stared hard at the fossil before him, hearing Derflinger's words but not responding to them. They kept echoing in his mind, however. That he used to be nothing more than a piece of rock, that his fellow Pokémon were dead and gone. Part of him wondered whether he himself should still in the be in the ground, until he felt a particularly hard heartbeat. He brushed his clawed hand against his chest, feeling his heart pounding, and he began to realize something.

He was _alive_. He could hear, taste, smell, feel, and everything in between. Sure, the rest of his kind may have been dead, but Tyrunt himself was not. How could he deny it when he could feel his heart beating inside his chest? Tyrunt was alive, and it didn't matter if me came from an egg or from this 'human science'. The more he thought about it, Tyrunt began to think that the way he reentered the world was a blessing. Before him was a chance to experience what life had to offer all over again.

Who else could say that they had this opportunity but him?

With that in mind, Tyrunt steeled his face and turned around to face the battle, surprising Derflinger. Tyrunt analyzed the battlefield, feeling his primal instincts take over. On one side was Saito and his pack. It was obvious that he was the alpha, directing others to do his bidding while they, in turn, protected him and the injured. Given how he was the one who led to his revival, that meant they were allies. On the other sides was the orange-fleshed human. As the man glowed blue and hefted a heavy object in a pale blue aura, undoubtedly intending to hurl it towards his retreating opponent, Tyrunt sniffed the air and to his disgust recognized the smell of the fat human from before. He figured that they were together, freshly acquainted but together none the less. The fat human was an enemy, and the one before him was attacking his ally. That meant he was enemy, one who had to be stopped. The other Pokémon with him were following his orders, telling Tyrunt that he was another alpha. Why two alphas were fighting he couldn't tell, possibly over territory, but right now he knew that taking out the enemy alpha was the best way forward.

"Kid, what are you doing?" Derflinger asked, beginning to sound concerned as Tyrunt crouched low and stalked towards the orange human, using the displays as cover to mask his approach. Were he bigger, Tyrunt simply would have charged the man, but he knew such an attempt would only end in disaster. So, he stuck to the shadows, watching as the other Pokémon fought it out. He noticed, on top of a stand, was large seed with a face on it firing a barrage of smaller seeds onto the black-furred quadruped. Tyrunt continued without much more thought, figuring his objective was much more important.

When the fire Pokémon crashed into a display before him, Tyrunt froze himself and sunk to the floor, trying to conceal himself as the Pokémon whined and rose to its hooves. The light it emitted was almost blinding, but to his relief it didn't notice him as it surrounded itself in a ball of flame and charged back forward. With the coast clear, Tyrunt continued, keeping to the outskirts of the room as he made his way forward. Arcs of fire and electricity raced past him alongside intersecting balls of shadow, scorching the wall and shattering many of the clear barriers into tiny shards that crunched underfoot, but still he kept going until finally he was behind the orange human. He saw that Derflinger was keeping his eyes on himself while floating over to Saito, where he poked his sash against Saito's shoulder.

"Uh, Saito?" Derflinger whispered.

"I'm a little busy as the moment, Derf! Tengu, use Bide! Brennaraki, use Fire Spin on Zebstrika!" Saito replied while continuing to check on the injured fairy.

"It's kinda important."

"What could be so important that-!" Saito was interrupted when his gaze glanced upon the Tyrunt hoisting himself onto a desk behind the Flare Admin's back. "Oh."

"Yeah."

Tyrunt, ignoring Saito's increasingly alarmed look, looked upon the back of the orange man's head and shuffled his body from side to side. By now, Saito's other Pokémon had noticed his presence and had stopped what they were doing. As they did, the Flare Admin misjudged the reason why they were stopping and began to haughtily laugh.

"Finally had enough, huh?" he mocked, throwing his arms to the side, his body flaring blue as a taunt. Tyrunt, meanwhile, began to shift his weight back and forth and side to side, testing out the distance between him and his target. Satisfied, Tyrunt shifted his weight back and glared daggers at the man's back, letting out a low, deep growl as he did. The man tensed at this and slowly turned to face the Tyrunt. He managed to catch a glimpse of the creature just as it leaped, its jaws spread out as far as it could and barring its pristine white fangs.

Tyrunt didn't quite manage to make it all the way to his shoulder, as he had intended, but he was able to chomp down onto the man's lower leg. He let out a pained scream and flailed his leg as Tyrunt bit down as hard as he could. His screams shook both of his Pokémon out of their concentrations. They both tried to turn around and assist their master, only for Saito's Pokémon to take advantage of their distraction and unleash everything they had into their unprotected flanks. As the amassed attacks struck, creating a large cloud of dust in the process, both Pokémon cried out in pain. Derflinger, meanwhile, cut through the dust as he sped straight towards the Tyrunt and his prey. Saito was right behind him, running as fast as he could while avoiding the battle around him.

Before long, the man finally tore Tyrunt off his leg and hurled him across the room, but Tyrunt was able to land on his feet and charge once more. He leaped up and snatched at his waist, digging his feet into the man's leg as he snapped at his armored torso while he himself kept him away with his arms. The massive weight, however, caused the man to fall onto his back, allowing Tyrunt to free himself and chomp down onto the man's chest. As he did, however, a sickly-blue aura enveloped the man, preventing his jaws from doing any damage. Surprised, Tyrunt was helpless as the orange human hefted him up and threw him into Saito.

"Oof!" he grunted as he fell to the ground. He began to breath heavily as air desperately tried to return to his lungs, which was helped when Tyrunt quickly got off his chest. "… Thank you…"

Tyrunt grunted in response, offering his snout as a support to the young man. Across from them, the other human glared daggers after inspecting his shredded pant leg. A few trails of blood could be seen coming out of shallow cuts and bite marks, nothing serious but still noticeable. Saito quickly turned his attention to Tyrunt, checking to see if there were any damage to his body. Derflinger, however, was not.

"Nice job, kid! Never do that again," he chastised. "What were you thinking?"

" _Bad man alpha. Take down alpha, take down pack_ ," Tyrunt responded but Derflinger merely narrowed his eyes in response.

"Well then, next time, loop me in at least. You could've gotten hurt."

" _Me almost had him, though,_ " Tyrunt mentioned before a look of confusion crossed his face. " _Did not know humans both dark and ghost._ "

"What are you talking about?" Derflinger asked, suddenly confused. Carnegie, meanwhile, tried to order his Pokémon to attack, but they were too busy fending off Saito's other Pokémon.

" _In chest. Felt ghost and dark. Humans Pokémon?_ " Tyrunt asked, and a look of confusion crossed Derflinger's eye.

"Derf, what'd he say?" Saito asked, seeing how Derflinger was now studying the other human intensely.

"…Saito," he finally began, "do you know of any Dark and Ghost-type Pokémon in the world? Ones that could dwell inside a person's chest?"

Saito prepared to ask what type of question that was, only to think about the answer. To his knowledge, there were only two in the world. The more he thought about it, one of the Pokémon had a characteristic that would potentially answer Derflinger's question. The suddenly nervous look on the other man's face convinced him.

"Maindo, use Disarming Voice on Carnegie! Aim for his chest!" Saito ordered. Maindo, reading his thoughts, smiled wickedly as he breathed in deep before letting out a large cry consisting of pink soundwaves visible to the naked eye. The sound shattered the remaining glass as everyone covered their ears, but Carnegie meanwhile flew back as the waves impacted his cuirass, warping it slightly and causing the leather straps to eject from their metal studs. Meanwhile, the pink interacted with the blue aura surrounding his body, pushing it back and causing it to recoil before finally it retracted as a purple and green gaseous Pokémon was flung out of his chest. Saito and Derflinger immediately recognized the creature, and Derflinger let out a snarl.

"A Spiritomb," Derflinger darkly muttered as he tore off his sheath, exposing the blade underneath. Spiritomb, seeing how it was outside of his host's body, attempted to fly back inside, only for Derflinger to slam into him while attacking with an Iron Head attack. Carnegie, meanwhile, looked fearful for the first time since their engagement began as his aura disappeared entirely, watching as his protector battled against Derflinger.

It was wholly lopsided. In sharp contrast to his normal demeaner, Derflinger had turned into a complete beast, calling upon centuries of combat experience that the Spiritomb was unable to effectively counteract despite the massive type advantage. Spiritomb fired a Shadow Ball at Derflinger, only for him to break it apart effortlessly with an Aerial Ace. He followed it up with a Shadow Sneak, causing Derflinger's shadow to reach out and strike the Spiritomb across the face. Spiritomb countered with a Feint Attack, to which Derflinger used Iron Defense to coat his body in a protective layer of steel. The Feint Attack bounced off Derflinger's body while he himself grunted in pain, then the Honedge attacked with an Iron Head attack. Spiritomb flew back into the ground, and as it tried to float back up it was attacked by yet another Disarming Voice.

Saito turned to face the source, and to his surprise he saw a wobbly Espirit standing on her two feet, supported by Brennaraki. It then suddenly grunted in pain for no reason as Tyrunt, who had managed to get out of Saito's grip, tackled Carnegie into a stand and began to slam his head into the Flare Admin's chest. Saito watched this in surprise before realizing what was occurring.

"You got to be kidding me. You used your own body as Spiritomb's keystone?" Saito suddenly asked. Carnegie, trying to get Tyrunt off himself, did not answer and so Saito took it as a yes. Saito turned back towards Spiritomb, where he saw Espirit stand before it. She then leaned down, closed her eyes, and kissed the side of his body. Moments later, pink energy surged through Spiritomb's body, some of which transferred over into Espirit and miraculously healed her wounds.

' _Oh, Espirit learned Draining Kiss. That'll make Louise happy,_ ' Saito thought as Espirit continued to kiss the Pokémon, draining more and more of its energy while healing herself. It tried to break away, but Derflinger had managed to hold it down with a careful application of Shadow Sneak, and before long it collapsed into unconsciousness.

"No!" Carnegie yelled as Spiritomb fainted, finally managing to hurl Tyrunt off him. He was now panicking and hyperventilating, watching as his remaining Pokémon attempted to drive off Saito's. He could no longer think straight, his normally careful planning disintegrating before his very eyes, and so he did the only thing that rationally made sense.

"Zebstrika, use Wild Charge!" He ordered as he returned Rapidash and Spiritomb to their Pokéballs. Zebstrika did as instructed, forming a cone of electricity around his body as he ran straight towards a wall. As the Pokémon passed by Carnegie, he grabbed hold of Zebstrika's mane, the Pokémon keeping sure to not harm its trainer, and the two then ran straight through the wall and several ones behind it. Each breach was punctuated by a loud crash, until finally he emerged into the outside world. Saito and the others watched as he disappeared into the night, the yellow electricity disappearing into the light. They could only hear hoofbeats on concrete, but soon enough that, too, disappeared. They let out a sigh of relief that the criminal was finally gone and sat down for a good rest.

"Good riddance. Hate Spiritombs. Haven't met a good one yet," Derflinger mumbled. Saito felt a story there but figured now was not the time. Instead he focused on Tyrunt, who was now sporting a limb after a stray attack hit him in the leg. Saito let out a small smile and knelt, extending out a hand in a placating gesture.

"Hey there," he said as the Tyrunt eyed him, not with anger or fear but with something Saito couldn't quite recognize. Still, it wasn't attacking him, so he took it without a second thought. "Do you understand me?"

Tyrunt stayed still for a moment, contemplating his words, before nodding. Saito smiled again, then pulled out a potion bottle. "You're hurt. Will you let me help?"

The Tyrunt eyed the bottle curiously, recognizing it as the same one that had healed the fairy from before. After a moment, he turned his body the side, allowing Saito easier access to his wound. Nodding to the Pokémon, Saito carefully applied the medicine, recoiling back when the Pokémon winced and cried out in pain.

"I know it stings but trust me. It'll help," Saito emphasized. Tyrunt eyed him and the bottle warily before sighing and allowing Saito to proceed. He winced in slight pain as the medicine was applied, but soon a sense of relief flowed through him. When Saito was finished, he turned to face the human and stared back up at him. Saito then sat down completely, and to his amusement Tyrunt did the same. Saito couldn't help but laugh, harder still when Tyrunt attempted to copy that as well.

"Heh, you certainly got a lot of personality, don't you?" Saito asked. Tyrunt didn't quite understand the question, merely tilting his head in response, before Saito slowly extended his hand towards the revived Royal Heir Pokémon. Tyrunt studied it for a moment then extended his head towards Saito's open palm, allowing it to rest atop his head. For a moment, Saito was surprised, but he soon smiled and began to slowly pet the Pokémon's rough head.

"Welcome to the world, Tyrunt."

* * *

Louise could only watch in horror as another of Calem's Pokémon went down hard against the Flare Lieutenant's lone Armaldo. She and him were getting absolutely destroyed. Nothing they did worked against her, and she suspected that the reason why the lieutenant allowed them to last as long as they did was so that she could analyze them for weaknesses and exploits. Any she found she quickly exploited, tearing Louise's and Calem's Pokémon apart in the process. It was infuriating. At one point, Louise tried to simply blow her up with her wand, but the lieutenant had her Armaldo shoot it out of her hands with a jet of water almost as soon as Louise had pulled it out, knocking it into the dead of night. Louise didn't have time to try and search for it, so she was limited to hiding behind the cab of a semi-truck and ordering Aile to bombard the Armaldo from high in the air.

Aile herself wasn't in much better shape, either. She was fluttering dangerously, repeatedly falling and having to reorient herself lest she crash to the ground. Her body was covered in bruises and spots where feathers were forcibly torn out by the force of Armaldo's attacks. Louise wanted nothing more than to recall Aile and administer first aid, but prior attempts to do just that resulted only in the lieutenant attacking them both at the same time. Most of her attention was concentrated on Calem's last remaining Pokémon, his Gogoat, but deep down, Louise knew it would only be a matter of time before she, too, fell.

"Gogoat, use Vine Whip!" Calem ordered. Gogoat cried out as twin vines shot out of her leafy mane towards the ancient crustacean, but the lieutenant merely snapped her fingers in response. Armaldo immediately acted upon the unspoken command, grabbing hold of the vines and dragging a surprised Gogoat towards itself. When Gogoat got close enough, its mouth glowed green as it used Bug Bite on the Grass-type. Gogoat squealed in pain as it tried to break free, only able to do so with Aile launched a barrage of Razor Winds at Armaldo's face, breaking its concentration.

That entire exchange brought Louise to mind of yet another reason this battle was proving to be so difficult. The lieutenant said nothing. The only sounds she made came from snaps of her fingers. No words, no shouts, nothing. It was unnerving, if nothing else, but at the same time it prevented Louise from fully figuring her out. She was a blank mask to the noble, preventing her from knowing what her aim was and countering appropriately.

Louise grit her teeth and clenched her fist. "Aile, use Roost to patch yourself up!"

At her trainer's command, Aile fluttered over to a high pole and rested on its top. She sighed contently as a soft, feathery glow enveloped her, feeling her wounds slowly heal.

"Watch out!"

Aile immediately shot her eyes open at Louise's cry, only to see a large boulder being shot towards her from the Armaldo. With almost no time to take flight, Aile used Quick Attack to speed off to the side. Not a moment later, the top of the wooden pole she was previously resting on was splintered by the rock. She eyed the shattered pole in shock, grateful that it wasn't her, before looking back down at her opponent with an angered expression. Crying out, she beat her wings rapidly and fired a barrage of Razor Wings, buffeting against the Armaldo's armored carapace as it stared back up at her unamused. Its eyes flashed blue as it used Ancient Power. Rocks were torn out from the ground, where they hovered and circled around the Pokémon ominously before shooting off one by one towards Aile. She bobbed and weaved through the attacks, trying to avoid getting hit, only for one to find its mark and cause her to careen towards the ground.

"Aile!" Louise shouted as she ran out towards her Pokémon, diving to catch her before she hit the ground. Louise gasped as her body scraped against the shattered concrete, tearing part of her jeans and scratching her leg. She hissed and briefly grasped her wound before checking on Aile. Her Pokémon was battered and breathing heavily, but luckily was still conscious.

"Louise, are you okay?" Calem asked as he ran over to help her up. She hissed as pain briefly pulsed through her leg, but she quickly shook it off.

"I'm fine." Louise paused as she strained her ears for the police sirens. They weren't far off now, perhaps just a few minutes, but Louise doubted they'd last that long. She shook her doubts from her head, reasoning that now was not the time to have them, looked at Aile. Aile looked back and nodded, then took flight and hovered over Louise's body.

"Alright. Gogoat, use Razer Leaf!" Calem ordered.

"Aile, use Razor Wind to boost them!" Louise ordered as well. The two Pokémon acted as one, Gogoat firing razor-sharp leaves from her mane while Aile have them a boost from behind with slices of air. The attacks shot towards Armaldo, and for a moment both trainers thought they might be able to harm the Pokémon. Those hopes were dashed as a green sphere consumed Armaldo, causing the attacks to bounce off it to no effect.

"Protect…" Calem muttered. Gogoat narrowed her eyes and ground her hoof against the ground as her horns glowed green as she used Horn Leech. She then charged at Armaldo head-first, dodging a thrown rock and slamming into Armaldo's chest. Any hope that this did anything was dashed one Armaldo grabbed hold of Gogoat with one of its claws, using Claw Crush in the process. Gogoat screamed, helpless to stop as Armaldo threw her to the ground. It then raised both pincers upwards and cross them, both glowing light green as it used X-Scissor on the Grass-type. The attack flew Gogoat back, slamming her against the heavily dented semi-truck cab, and she did not get up.

"Gogoat!" Calem yelled out as he ran to his unconscious Pokémon. Aile, meanwhile, continued her assault as she fired barrage after barrage of Razor Winds towards the Plate Pokémon, but each attack did nothing. She watched as Armaldo smirked and used Ancient Power yet again, clearly intending to hit both Calem and his helpless Pokémon with the projectiles, and time seemed to freeze for Aile. She knew that, should those attacks hit, there stood a serious chance that both Calem and Gogoat would be seriously hurt, possibly Louise as well. A sense of pure rage consumed her, rage that this criminal would even think about hurting her trainer and her friends. She might not always be the best Pokémon, she knew that, but she'd be damned before she'd let her get hurt. Not when she could do something about it.

A deep power shot out from Aile's body as she flew down towards Armaldo as fast as she could, glowing blue in the process. She herself did not notice as her body enlarged and became consumed in fire, and Louise watched in amazement as her Fletchling underwent evolution, turning into a Fletchinder. Armaldo was surprised as the Fletchinder, using Flame Charge, slammed into his head, knocking his attacks off course, and for a moment Louise thought they might have a second chance.

That hope was dashed when Armaldo slammed his nearest pincer into Aile using Smack-Down, sending her crashing into the ground with a dull thud. Louise could only watch in horror as Armaldo stomped over to the fallen Pokémon, who was trying to pick herself off the ground. It prepared to strike her once again, and Louise quickly pulled out her Luxury Ball and returned her injured Pokémon. The Armaldo and Flare lieutenant looked surprised for a moment as they regarded Louise, who herself stepped in front of an equally surprised Calem and raised her fists defiantly. Her mind screamed at her that what Louise was doing was idiotic at best, but desperation kept her shaking knees from running away.

"Leave. Now," Louise ordered, trying to keep her fear in check. The Armaldo chuckled at the sight while the Flare lieutenant frowned in annoyance at her Pokémon's action. Louise saw this and her fear became replaced with anger. She marched up to a still laughing Armaldo and, to everyone's surprise, threw a punch against its armored head. The Pokémon stared at her incredulously while Louise herself clutched her hand in pain, having immediately regretted her decision. Then, almost amused, the Armaldo knocked her to the ground and placed its foot on her chest, pinning her. The Flare lieutenant, now back to her normal stoic persona, regarded her with cold indifference as she visibly tried to determine what exactly to do with the young noble. Only now could Louise see the thoughts moving through the criminal's head. Thoughts of ending Louise here and now danced through her eyes as well as simply tying her up and holding her for ransom. She even entertained thoughts of trying to indoctrinate the woman into their ranks. Louise snarling back at up at her, even in her current position, told her that would be impossible.

The Flare lieutenant's eyes steeled themselves as they prepared to come to a decision. Louise braced herself for whatever might come, only for her eyes to catch glimpse of a black shape looking out from the top of the museum. The lieutenant saw this and turned her attention towards the roof, only to find that the shape was gone. Rather than assume that Louise saw nothing, she snapped her fingers a few times towards Armaldo, keeping her eyes focused on the roof. Armaldo removed his foot from Louise's chest, allowing a sense of relief to pass through her as she quickly scampered back. Calem crawled over to her side, helping her rest against the trailer as he inspected her for any injuries.

"What in Arceus' name were you thinking?" he asked, clearly concerned.

"I wasn't," Louise admitted, her hands absentmindedly trailing against the ground. They stopped once she felt them pass a small wooden rod, instantly recognizing it as her wand. "What the…?"

"Hm?" Calem wondered as Louise held her wand to her face. She wondered how it managed to get back to her, only for Calem to silently poke her shoulder. She looked at him and saw his gaze was directed upwards. Louise followed his gaze to the top of the trailer and gasped as she saw the shape from before, now fully illuminating its body. With its white fur, dark-blue skin on its exposed face, and a single scythe-like horn on the side of its head, Louise recognized it instantly as an Absol. Her mind raced with the possibilities, settling on one that told her that this Absol was the same one that led her here to begin with. A nod from the creature, seemingly reading her face, told her she was correct.

"… Thank you," Louise whispered to the Pokémon as she got to her feet, her hand steadying herself against the aluminum trailer. Louise glared at the Flare lieutenant's back, who was still distracted by trying to find what Louise had clearly seen before, allowing the noble the chance to aim her wand straight at her.

"Fireball," Louise casted. At the same time, Armaldo turned its head to see Louise aiming at its trainer, causing it to leap in front of the spell to protect her. The blast knocked both to the ground, but Armaldo, visibly singed in areas, quickly rose to its feet and roared before charging at her. As it did, Absol suddenly leaped down from above and used Sucker Punch, knocking Armaldo back where it followed up with a Night Slash. The attack, to Louise's simultaneous surprise and relief, caused a visible gash to appear on Armaldo's chest plate.

Unbowed, the Pokémon roared defiantly as it flailed its arms around, making itself look larger, as Absol crouched down low and hissed angrily. Armaldo used Ancient Power yet again, launching the rocks towards Absol who, to Louise's surprise, leaped from rock to rock towards the Plate Pokémon, using Night Slash once it got close enough. This time, however, Armaldo was ready and dodged the attack, using X-Scissor on her flank as Absol passed it by. The attack hit, causing Absol to cry out in pain before it turned itself into multiple copies at once, encircling Armaldo from all sides. Armaldo roared as it swerved its head from side to side, trying to find the correct copy, before Absol suddenly attacked from behind and latched itself to its back, using Bite on the back of its neck. Armaldo flailed, trying to knock it off, before it managed to angle its head towards the body of Absol's body. Salty water then sprayed out from its mouth as it used Brine, knocking Absol off and towards Louise. The young girl, now able to hit the Armaldo with another spell without running the risk of hurting it, prepared to do so before a specially shaped wall of Protect separated the two sides just the spell was cast.

"Dammit!" Louise cursed as her spell exploded harmlessly against the Protect. The Flare lieutenant glared at her, thinking of strategies on how to take her out, only for her radio to suddenly flare to life just they heard several large, successive crashes coming from inside the building.

" _CZ, retreat! The operation's failed, fall back!_ " Carnegie shouted at her, clearly in a panic. Behind his voice was the same crashes they themselves were hearing on the outside, telling them that _he_ was their cause. A look of surprise briefly shot across her face before being replaced with resignation. A moment later, the Protect still up, CZ pulled out another Pokéball and released a large gray-skinned Pokémon with leathery wings and a pointed crest on the back of its head. Louise and Calem recognized it as an Aerodactyl as she hopped onboard and flew away, returning Armaldo as she retreated. Louise, Calem, and Absol could only watch as the Flare operative flew off into the night. Part of her felt relief that she was gone, but another felt angry that the woman was able to effortlessly defeat her. Upon further reflection, she decided that she didn't just get defeated. She was absolutely destroyed. Not even her first battle against Viola had been this much of a trouncing, but before she could ruminate further on that feeling, a sense of exhaustion caused her to collapse. Calem and Absol caught her before she could fall, helping her rest across the ground, and the young girl rested her head against the trailer, closing her eyes as she did.

"… Is it over?" she finally asked after a moment. Calem didn't respond until flashing lights finally arrived, nearly blinding them. He then smiled.

"Yeah, I think it is," he said.

* * *

Everything passed by quickly after that. Police officers swarmed the building, sweeping it from top to bottom to find all evidence. Fingerprints, security feeds, everything. Nothing was spared. Unfortunately, the only person who they managed to capture and arrested was one Dennis Nedry, supposedly the chief IT officer for the entire museum. After being cornered by the now freed Muldoon's and Owen's Archeopses following a failed escape attempt, the sniveling coward told the police everything he knew and what he did to help Team Flare in his own attempt to strike back against perceived poor working conditions.

Speaking of which, a few insurance agents accompanied the museum workers as they assessed the damage. Louise and Saito couldn't help but feel guilty over the apparent thousands of Pokédollars worth of damages, not including the destruction of a few exhibits and several Carnegie-shaped holes in the walls he made during his frantic escape, but the workers stressed that no charges would be filed nor would they be punished for their actions. That was a relief to both, but right now she was more concerned with the Officer Jenny in front of her.

"Do you three have any idea how lucky you are?" she chastised the three trainers, hands resting on her hips and a frown on her face. Saito and Calem looked apologetic while Louise remained silent, her gaze transfixed on Jenny's face.

"Yes, we understand completely," Saito replied calmly. Jenny huffed and looked at Louise expectantly. The noble stared at the police officer for a few more moments before Saito nudged her with his elbow, shocking her back into focus.

"Oh, uh, yes. I understand officer. It's my fault we got into this, and by the time we tried to get out, it was too late," Louise explained.

"Yes, I figured that from our last conversation over the phone." Jenny sighed and rubbed her forehead, then looked at the two with a much calmer expression. "Look, we're grateful for the help you three gave. My gut tells me that things would have been a lot worse had you not intervened. But catching criminals is the police's job for a reason. Team Flare and other criminal syndicates around the world may dress funny and act weird, but they're dangerous people. You could get yourself or others hurt, perhaps worse. So please, next time you see criminal activity, call the police and get to safety, okay?"

Louise stared back silently for a moment before sighing. "… I know, but… Whenever I see something like that happening, I can't help but at least try to stop it. To just sit back and let others do something important while I sit on the sidelines is just…" Louise trailed off, but Officer Jenny smiled as she figured the rest of her sentence. She then sighed and stood up straight.

"Just be careful. In any case, Nurse Joy told me that your Pokémon are good to go. They're waiting for you in the Pokémon Center."

"Thank you, officer," Calem said as he and the others stood up. The three prepared to walk out of the police station, only for Officer Jenny to call out towards them.

"By the way, kid. The Officer Jenny you met at the Kalos River Daycare was my cousin."

"I never said-!" Louise started, an embarrassed blush on her face.

"You were thinking it."

"…yes. Thank you." Louise quickly shuffled out of the building, ignoring Jenny's chuckled at her expense. Saito and Calem, meanwhile, looked at the young girl in sympathy.

"Yeah, took me a while to get used to it, too," Calem admitted. "Funnily enough, if you look hard enough, each one has a subtle difference that makes them unique."

"Oh really?" Saito asked, genuinely curious. "Like what?"

"Well, there was one I met in Lumiose that had a beauty mark on her face, while this Officer Jenny's hair had a slightly different shade of green than the others."

"Hmm, interesting." Saito hummed while rubbing his chin. Louise, admittedly, found that to be curious before a thought entered her mind.

"Were those differences natural? People dye their hair and makeup can do a lot of things," she pointed out. Calem moved to counter, only to pause and let her words sink in. A look of astonishment crossed his face as did the others, and they all simultaneously shivered.

"Anyway…" Saito stated, moving the conversation along, "thanks for helping us out, man. Sorry you got dragged into this."

"Don't worry about it." Calem waved their concern off as they entered the Pokémon Center. They greeted the nurse at the counter, who directed them to sit down while her Wigglytuff went into the back to grab their Pokémon. A moment of silence came between them as they rested.

"So…," Calem began, leaning his head back against his arms, "…you're from another world?"

"Yes," Louise admitted. She had told Calem this in the immediate aftermath of Team Flare's retreat, before the police arrived. After seeing her blow up an Armaldo with a wooden stick – his words – he believed her on the spot.

"That's cool. What's it like over there?"

"From what she told me," Saito replied, "kinda like a medieval fantasy world without Pokémon where mages rule and the rest are commoners."

"Weird. No Pokémon at all?"

"Yeah, none. Freaked me out, too."

"Okay first, its closer to the early Renaissance from what I've read of Earth's history. Second, I just want to say," Louise stated, amusement in her voice, "I find it amusing that the lack of Pokémon is what freaks you two out the most."

"Well yeah, duh. Everything else is just really interesting and cool."

"Not everything," Louise admitted before smiling. "This place is pretty cool, too. Unsavory rapscallions aside."

"Did you just say 'rapscallion'? Arceus, you really are old-fashioned." Calem laughed.

"Shut it, plebian." Calem laughed harder at Louise's joke, and the others couldn't help but join him. After a while, they calmed down and let the events that had transpired wash over them, and a serious look crossed Louise's face. "By the way, Calem? How do you know that…? What was her name again?"

"Isabel. Isabel Douglas Wolfram," Calem answered, his voice becoming uncharacteristically venomous. "You know how I told you guys I lost my Kalos League circuit?"

"Yeah," Saito replied, leaning forward in his chair in rapt attention.

"We fought in the semi-final rounds, and things went wrong almost from the beginning. My Pokémon were sluggish, erratic, and not performing nearly as well as they should have. At first I thought that perhaps they were just exhausted from several days' worth of battling and it just now catching up to them, until my Greninja collapsed and started having a seizure in the middle of battle. Refs halted the match and brought my Pokémon to the infirmary, where they found traces of illegal performance depressors in their food. Security cameras showed that Isabel had tampered with it right before the battle." Calem clenched his fist. "She almost killed them for a chance at a victory she didn't earn."

"Founder…" Louise muttered, completely horrified. Her thoughts drifted towards what would happen if someone tried to do that to Brennaraki or any of her Pokémon, and her fists tightened in response.

"My only consolation is that they caught her immediately, blacklisting her around the world while giving me the victory. Personally, I thought and still think she should have gone to jail, but they thought the blacklisting and stripping of all achievements was enough." Calem paused to take a deep, calming breath, then continued. "It took two weeks for my Pokémon to recover enough to battle Diantha on even footing. For that, I'll never forgive her."

Saito and Louise nodded at his statement, understanding where his feelings came from. Calem then shook his head and relaxed just as Wigglytuff returned with their Pokémon. Tyrunt was being carried on a metal cart while, much to Saito's surprise, the Absol from before was walking alongside them.

"Wait, is that…?" Saito began.

"Yep, the same from that Louise saw," Derflinger answered. "Also, the same one you and I saw from the Kalos River Daycare. Apparently, she'd been following us ever since then."

"Really? Why?" Louise asked, genuinely curious.

"You, apparently," Derflinger replied, taking Louise aback.

"Me? What'd I do?"

"You remember when I told you that Absols are walking disaster monitors?" Louise nodded. "Well, according to her, you are a, quote, 'walking disaster area that she feels contractually obligated to stay next to in order to help ward off future disasters, both manmade and otherwise.'"

Louise stared at the Honedge and Absol for a long minute. No one said a word, causing the entire area to fall into an awkward silence that was only broken by a cough.

"Also, she wants to join your team," Derflinger quickly got out. Louise slowly craned her neck to look at Absol, who herself was staring unflinchingly at the young noble. The two stared into each-other's eyes, sizing the other up, before Louise took a deep, calming breath and forced herself to smile despite the immense feeling of indignation coursing through her veins.

"…Thank you, Absol. I appreciate your concern, and humbly accept your offer," she said while pulling out a Luxury Ball. Absol nodded and pressed her face against the ball, causing her to be absorbed within. The ball shook for a few moments before flashing green, indicating a successful capture. Everyone stared at it for a moment in complete silence.

"She's not—"

"You say anything about it, and I will blow you up, Saito."

"Understood." Saito clammed up. The Tyrunt, from his perch on the metal table, looked at the two inquisitively before hopping off and into Saito's lap. He nestled into his trainer's lap and sighed contently as the young boy began to pet him. Louise's indignation faded away at the sight and she smiled happily at her friend and his newest capture.

"I'm happy for you, Saito," she admitted. "Did you come up with a name for him, yet?"

Saito looked down at his Tyrunt for a few moments while continuing to pet him. "Yeah, I did. Louise, meet Shogun."

* * *

"Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!" Carnegie shouted as he stored everything in his camp in a hurry. Months of planning, thousands of Pokédollars spent, countless hours of drilling and preparation, all for nothing. Just because three _children_ happened across them on a fluke. Throwing papers into suitcases, he ruminated on his failures. It was obvious to him where things had gone wrong. He had trusted the wrong people, people like Nedry who's incompetence kicked off the chain of events.

"When I get my hands on them…" he muttered to himself.

"No, you won't," a voice suddenly announced her presence, catching Carnegie off-guard. He jumped around to see a small group of his operatives glaring at him, and a sense of foreboding fell over him.

"What are you doing? Get back to work, all of you. We have to get out of here _before_ the police arrive, and—"

"The police are the least of your concerns right now, Carnegie," one of them cut him off, pulling out a Pokéball in the process. Carnegie watched them in dismay, now understanding what was transpiring.

"You…traitors…" he growled, reaching towards his belt to pull out his own Pokémon, only to find them not there. Shocked, he looked towards the group to see his Pokéball belt being twirled around one of the traitor's fingers absentmindedly. "You won't get away with this. When the others find out what you're doing, they'll—"

"They'll understand and support us," the third countered. "We watched as you and your incompetence has led this cell to the ground. Failure after failure, loss after loss. We are no closer to achieving global perfection now than we were a year ago, and back then our cell was the second strongest in the entire region! Now look at us! Reduced to barely a handful of operators who couldn't even stop a pair of children!"

"That was not my fault!" Carnegie countered. "I—!"

"Quiet!" the head girl kicked him in the chest, knocking him back into a chair. Carnegie looked back up at them fearfully, causing them to scoff. "Look at you. Even now, you're a sniveling coward who refuses to fight back. We should have done this months ago…"

Carnegie began to sweat profusely as the traitors surrounded him, cutting him off from the tent's lamplight. He heard someone else enter, and when the person snapped her fingers he felt a sense of dread overwhelm him. Seeing CZ at the front of his tent after the traitors parted caused him to sigh in resignation.

"I should have known…" Carnegie glared at his former second-in-command. The woman snapped her fingers and, at once, the trio left outside. CZ stared silently at Carnegie as she pulled up a chair and sat across from him, resting her left foot across her right thigh. The two stared at each other for a long moment before Carnegie began to speak.

"Are you going to kill me?" he asked. CZ remained silent for a moment before shaking her head.

"… No, I won't," she admitted, and Carnegie couldn't help but raise his eyebrow.

"You know, I think this is the first time I've heard you speak since we've met."

"I only speak when it's worth my time. A situation like this is worth my time, you are not," CZ replied. "I admit, the thought of killing you for your utter failure to lead this cell has crossed my mind but doing so would only cause the cell to disintegrate completely. Besides, for as much of a failure at leading, I can't help but admit your logistics skills are superior to my own."

"Thank you for the compliment," Carnegie said through a glare.

"It's the only one you're going to get." CZ leaned back and rested her elbows on her legs, tapping her fingers together. "Here's what's going to happen. Nominally, you will remain the Admin of this cell. But any 'decision' you make will be mine and not yours. You'll be the face and nothing more."

"So, I'm the fall guy?" Carnegie guessed, and CZ nodded. He glared daggers at her before asking, "And if I refuse?"

CZ leaned back against her chair. "You won't."

[~][~]

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the last chapter of Outsiders! Lots happened here today as this arc comes to a close. Saito got himself a new Pokemon, Shogun the Tyrunt, while Louise herself had yet another of her Pokemon evolve (Aile into a Fletchinder) and caught an Absol. We look forward to exploring both of these new characters in the upcoming chapters.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **Princess Asuna:** I'm happy that you're enjoying the story so much. Now, I won't be answering any spoiler questions, but rest assured that we have plans in motion. Now, Louise rejected the egg because she felt that she, herself, didn't really deserve it. In her mind, she figured that she got herself and her friends into this mess in the first place, putting Saito in the hospital, so she didn't deserve a reward. Hence, she rejected the egg offered to her. Plus, from a writing perspective, there wasn't a need for both to have one. The egg we got is a background object already, no need for two. As for 200 Celsius, that was a deliberate decision. For one, Pokemon is a Japanese franchise and Kalos is based off of France. Both use the metric system, so we consciously chose to use the metric system whenever possible.

 **Manah Scarlet Shadowsong** : Your gut wasn't entirely wrong, but good things happened to her as well.

That's it for today. We hope you guys enjoy and we'll see you all next time.


	44. Written in the Stars

**Outsiders Side Story:**

 **Written in the Stars** **by Firebird Zoom**

[~][~]

There were tears in her eyes when she woke up. She didn't remember what her dream was about, but the fact that she had been crying was evidence enough for her. It had been months since she'd last had a dream like that, and she had started to think that they had permanently gone away. As much as it pained her to admit, she couldn't keep dwelling in the past, not even if it was for him. She was Nakagawa Coda, and her men needed her leadership.

Pushing herself out of her bed, Coda began her morning routine, the same pattern she'd followed for the past two years. Her lemongrass hair was brushed free of tangles and allowed to hang free. She smoothed down the front of her dress before affixing her stone heart on her chest. The red gem stood out like a splash of blood on her black dress, in contrast to the golden cross that took up most of its front. Satisfied with her appearance, Coda grabbed an object off a nearby table before exiting her cabin.

It had been raining earlier, so the ground was still somewhat muddy. Coda, however, seemed to take it in stride, playfully hopping from dry spot to dry spot, humming a tune as she went. Stopping in front of a tree, Coda cleared a spot and sat down. Then, she cast her eyes down to the object in her hands. The shades weren't hers, not originally. Unlike the stone heart pressed heavily against her chest, they hadn't even been a gift. Tracing her fingers over the contours of the shades, Coda sighed and put them on, the orange tint of the visor obscuring the golden eyes behind them. Even after all this time, she still felt slightly uneasy wearing them. It didn't help that her parents had taught her that a person's soul could be bound to an object that held great significance to them.

Coda grit her teeth at that thought, pulling out a pair of Pokéballs as she did so. "Mawile! Duosion! Get out here!" she yelled. Maybe it wasn't fair to them to act this way, but she wasn't a child anymore. Superstitions shouldn't hold any sway over her. No, they didn't hold any sway over her. Not anymore. Never again.

' _What do you need, Miss Nakagawa?'_ Duosion said, worry evident in his tone.

Coda shook her head, "Has Ninetales returned yet?"

' _He has not entered my range yet, no,'_ the green Pokémon adopted a thoughtful expression, _'That is strange, however. Even if he did run into trouble, Ninetales should have returned by now.'_

Mawile chattered at Duosion, and the Mitosis Pokémon nodded at her before turning back to Coda.

' _Mawile suggests that Ninetales may have been pursued, and is taking a roundabout route to try and shake them,'_ he calmly relayed.

"That's certainly more comforting than the alternative," Coda murmured, "Though I would have preferred that he hadn't been pursued at all."

' _I could not agree more, Miss Nakagawa.'_

"No use worrying about things I have no control over, I guess," the young woman said, unconsciously placing a hand on her visor as she stood up, "Duosion, go relieve Gothorita, and inform me if you hear anything about Ninetales. Mawile, gather the lieutenants, we need to decide on our next course of action."

Mawile gave a chirp of agreement while Duosion simply nodded before the two went to fulfill their orders.

Coda watched them go, then began making her way to the main hall. She had a long day ahead of her, after all. Besides, it wouldn't do to have her lieutenants wait for her.

* * *

The building that served as the compound's main hall was noticeable in a number of ways. Firstly, it was the only building not constructed entirely of rough-hewn logs. Secondly, and most notably, the building had a vivid mural painted on the side. Coda had never really like the painting, but she had left it alone all this time, if only out of respect. But this time was different. This time, Coda's expression darkened as she took in the mural. Her eyes blazed with a dark determination as her eyes darted across the wall, taking it in as if for the first time. Unlike then, the mural didn't elicit wonder and awe in her, but rage. Lysandre, Aliana, Celosia, Mable, Xerosic, _Alain_ , _Malva_ , every single one of their faces served to stoke the flames of her rage further.

Then, she tore her eyes away and turned around to face the men and women of her cell.

"It should be obvious what our first order of business is," Coda said, "You were complaining of low morale among our troops. The source is obvious."

Nobody responded. Coda simply pressed on, "I know that we should have reverence for the deceased. However, I can't help but question my predecessor's decision to adorn the most important structure in our compound with the visages of traitors!"

Some of her lieutenants flinched back at her words, taken aback by her brazen words. Coda ignored them.

"I know you all think I'm just exaggerating," she carried on, "but, think about it. Every single one of them who hasn't outright betrayed us since was present when Lysandre prepared to bring about our perfect world. They failed to protect him and the Ultimate Weapon. While Malva and Alain are guilty of treachery by their own actions, the others are guilty of treachery by inaction.

"Think about it! How must you all feel to wake up every morning to see just who we glorify!? A bunch of traitors and cowards who held the world in their hands, yet failed to change it for the better!"

Her lieutenants looked somewhat worried, but this speech wasn't for them. Her men, the rank-and-file of her cell let out a rousing cheer. Coda couldn't help but smile. She had always been told that men would follow one with conviction, and it seems that he was right. She'd never elicited such a response from her cell before, but, then again, she was just trying to emulate him back then. This time, her conviction was truly her own. Her words were her own. She'd finally taken control.

"We may be weak now," she said, "But it's only a matter of time before we're strong enough to finish what our forebearers started!"

Her cell cheered even louder at this. Coda frowned, not because their reaction was unsatisfactory, no. She frowned because she felt a presence intrude into her mind.

' _What is it, Duosion?'_ she said, half of her mind continuing her rally, _'This had better be important.'_

' _Ninetales has returned, but he is not alone,'_ Duosion replied, _'There is a man outside the gates who wishes to speak with you. He claims to be Maxwell Fletcher.'_

Coda grit her teeth, _'Tell him he can shove off. His failure of a raid was all over the news. We don't need failures like him weighing us down.'_

' _From what little I know of him, he does not seem the type to take something like that well, especially not from one younger than he is.'_

' _Then we beat him up. I doubt that he'd provide much of a challenge without two-thirds of his team.'_

' _Even still. I will have Ninetales and Mawile meet up with you.'_

' _Warn me if he tries anything.'_

' _You do not need to worry, Miss Nakagawa. I will— What is—?'_ Duosion's mental voice suddenly cut off, and Coda felt her breath hitch.

' _Duosion? Duosion?'_ Coda thought worriedly. However, she couldn't let her unease show.

' _Gothorita,'_ Coda broadcasted, _'Duosion just went silent. Find out what happened.'_

' _You can count on me, Naki!'_ Gothorita responded almost instantly.

"Well, well, well," a voice said, pulling Coda out of her mind, "It seems that Kami chose his successor well."

"I already told you, you weren't welcome here, Maxwell," Coda shot back, not even needing to identify the speaker.

"My, my," Maxwell said, "Is that any way to treat a peer, Miss Coda?"

"You stopped being my peer when your raid failed. What did the headline say? 'Seventy Flare Grunts captured in failed raid on Pokémon Daycare.' Besides, I hear you lost more than just men there."

Maxwell's face fell at those words. Almost unconsciously, he began to rub the tattoo on the back of his right hand before pushing up his sleeve to reveal a gem-studded bracer. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this," he said as he placed his hand on a light blue gem.

Coda's mouth was dry. It seemed that she really had kept talking. A pale blue tail brushed past her hand. Coda smiled.

"You underestimate my resolve, Maxwell," she said.

"On the contrary," Maxwell replied, "This is probably the only way I can get you to listen to me."

"Mawile, Ninetales. Vanguard."

"Aqua Jet."

Her cell scattered, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire. Neither combatant cared. That just made their jobs easier.

Ninetales sent a wave of ice towards Maxwell while Mawile began to gather energy in her arm. The man dodged the first with almost contemptuous ease, then took note of the latter and frowned.

"Where's your partner, Maxwell?" Coda sniped at him, "Did you lose her too?"

"Were you any of the other cell leaders, I would simply dismiss your statement as bravado," Maxwell said, his voice dripping with confidence, "but you've never seen her before. To answer your question, she's right here."

Coda's eyes went wide as she registered his words. "MOVE!" she shouted, and she wasn't a moment too soon.

No sooner had her Pokémon moved than a wave of water smashed into their former positions.

"You think quickly," Maxwell said as a large, seal-like Pokémon landed behind him, "But can you keep that up? Aria: Rigid Paradise."

Then, the Pokémon began to sing. Coda watched as orbs of water coalesced out of thin air and fired towards her. Their locations seemed random at first, but, as they started appearing faster and faster, it became clear that they were forming a pattern, one moving too quickly for her to find gaps to exploit.

 _Shine on, beat of my heart._

' _Gothorita,'_ Coda broadcast, _'Can you create a link between my team and I?'_

' _I've never done it before, Naki,'_ she replied, _'but I can try.'_

' _Do it, please.'_

Coda winced as a bolt of pain lanced through her mind.

' _I'll never get used to that,'_ Ninetales drawled.

' _Ow… This may just be me, but this is somehow_ more _painful than usual,'_ Mawile groused.

' _It's not just you,'_ Ninetales muttered, _'It feels like there's a troop of Drillburs going to town on my mind.'_

 _Duosion usually isn't this sloppy.'_

' _Sorry, guys,'_ Coda murmured back, _'We can't slow down now.'_

' _Aye, aye, Captain!'_ Mawile chirped.

' _Shut the Hell up, Mawile,'_ Ninetales droned, _'You're annoying enough when you aren't in my head.'_

' _Language, Ninetales,'_ Coda admonished, _'Follow my lead exactly, we don't have much room for error.'_

' _Aye, aye, captain,'_ he sarcastically quipped. As much as she wanted to admonish him, Coda simply didn't have the time.

The move stretched on for what felt like an eternity as Coda furiously directed her team through the waves of bubbles. Which to dodge, which to destroy, and which to simply endure. Then, it was over. Mawile and Ninetales had taken more damage than she would have liked, but things were beginning to turn in her favor.

"I'm sure Kami would be proud of you," Maxwell said, "but pride always cometh before the fall. Primarina, Moon Blast"

At his word, Primarina launched a barrage of silver beams. Mawile quickly used Iron Defense, and braced for the hit, only for Ninetales to generate Ice Shards in front of himself, harmlessly scattering the bolts.

" _Try again!"_ Ninetales taunted, returning fire with a barrage of his own. Entirely sure of her own strength, the Soloist allowed the beams to hit her, not noticing the iridescent sheen a few of them had.

' _Wow, I usually don't have this much trouble parsing the extra sensory inputs,'_ Mawile said, glancing around in confusion, _'Gothi's doing this isn't she?'_

' _Considering Duosion would have ranted at me when I swore earlier, I'd assume yes.'_

Pressing her initiative, Primarina sent an Icy Wind downrange. Ninetales to almost contemptuously canceled it with a Blizzard, the much stronger move continuing downrange. The white fox allowed himself to smirk as the Blizzard smashed into Primarina, but his feeling of triumph quickly faded as the large seal emerged from the ice storm all but unscathed. Unwilling to let her opponent regain control of the battle, Mawile struck out with Astonish, causing Primarina to flinch as Ninetales fired off another barrage of mixed Ice and Aurora Beams. The Deceiver Pokémon capitalized on the momentary stun and caught her in a Vice Grip.

"Liquidation," Maxwell ordered, seemingly bored with the whole proceeding.

A wall of water smashed into Mawile, dislodging her and sending her flying. Ninetales quickly used Ice Beam to break his teammate's fall before retaliating with another barrage. Primarina scoffed as the attacks pinged harmlessly off her, uncaring of the small patches of frost building up at some of the points of impact.

" _Am I a joke to you?"_ Primarina inquired, her voice sounding just as noble and haughty as her appearance suggested.

" _YES!"_ Ninetales immediately snapped back.

" _Well then, I'll enjoy taking you down a few pegs."_

Making good on her promise, Primarina fired off salvo after salvo of Water Guns. Despite the relative weakness of the individual bolts, the sheer number of attacks more than made up for it. Noticing that the Soloist Pokémon wasn't even bothering to aim her shots, Mawile did the first thing that came to mind: she turtled. Using her secondary jaws as a makeshift spade, she quickly dug herself a shallow foxhole and hid inside it, trusting Iron Defense would reduce the effects of any stray shots that managed to hit her. Lacking an easy way to get into cover, Ninetales hastily formed barricades with Ice Shard and Ice Beam, fully intending to weather the storm.

' _Coda,'_ Ninetales cried in distress, _'I'd prefer if this ended as soon as possible. Fighting someone like this is— Damn!'_

Ninetales launched himself into the air with an Ice Shard mere instants before Primarina's Water Pledge created a geyser directly under him. The sudden cessation of the Soloist's incessant assault had tipped him off, but he wasn't fast enough. Unable to block it completely, Ninetales was sent flying and crashed into the ground, the ice he had cocooned himself in shattering on impact. Seeing her friend's plight through Coda's eyes, Mawile leapt out of her hole and rushed over to the crash site, Coda following not far behind.

' _Hey, Nines?'_ Mawile hesitantly asked, _'You okay?'_

' _Definitely could be better, but it looks like the Aurora Beams did their job,'_ Ninetales groused as he freed himself from the shattered ice.

Surprised by the lack of damage, Maxwell looked at Primarina and was surprised to see the frost spreading across his partner's body. "Impressive tactics," Maxwell said, "but you're still no closer to beating me. Aria: Old World."

' _Not this again,'_ Mawile cried.

Bullets of water began appearing out of nowhere, forming into serpentine shapes as they surrounded Coda and her team.

" _Okay! I'm not dealing with this again!"_ Ninetales howled, _"Fuck this. Fuck you. Fuck this move. And FUCK THIS STUPID FIGHT!"_

' _Ninetales,'_ Coda broadcast, _'Just because you don't think it doesn't mean I can't understand— What are you doing?'_

In an instant, the air suddenly felt far dryer. For Mawile and Coda, the closest to Ninetales, it was as if every particle of moisture had been ripped out of the air, leaving even their mouths dry. But all that paled in comparison to the wind. It's common knowledge that fluids move from high pressure to low, but the sheer difference in temperature made the normally mundane process far more explosive, knocking both Mawile and Coda back forcefully.

With a howl, Ninetales fired a massive Freeze-Dry off in all directions, the intense pressure bursting out in a wave of dehydrated, supercooled air. Instinctively, Coda covered her face with her arms as the blast hit her. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't quite suppress a hiss of pain as she felt the ice form across her arms. Still, she couldn't deny how effective it had been. The attack had wiped out Primarina's Aria, every one of the bullets had been either torn apart or frozen into starbursts. But Primarina herself didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

' _Why didn't you do that earlier?'_ Mawile demanded shaking off the ice that had accumulated during the attack.

" _How the HELL did you tank that!?"_ Ninetales screamed, ignoring her question.

" _Unlike you, I've actually trained for years,"_ Primarina sneered back.

" _FUCK YOU!"_

' _We're not getting anywhere like this,'_ Coda broadcast.

' _Oh, I don't know, I rather enjoy SMASHING MY HEAD AGAINST A BRICK FUCKING WALL!'_ Ninetales sniped back, _'Of course we're not getting anywhere!'_

' _You have a plan, Coda?'_ Mawile asked.

' _Just do as I say.'_

"I've had just about enough of this, Coda," Maxwell said, disappointment evident in his tone, "Sure, Kami never managed to hold his own against Primarina for this long, but you lack his flare. How do you expect to fill his shoes if you can't even ape a _tenth_ of his charisma?"

"Say his name one more time, I dare you," Coda snarled, clenching her fists.

"You know very well Kami considered me one of his closest friends," Maxwell smirked, "I have every right to say his name."

"I warned you," Coda ground out.

"Please, we both know your threats don't have any teeth."

"People can change."

"Prove it to me then. Primarina, Hydro Cannon."

' _You just HAD to taunt him!'_ Ninetales screamed, _'GET OUT OF THE WAAAAY!'_

' _No. Use Ice Beam. Strike it head-on!'_ Coda ordered.

' _WHAT!?'_

' _Do it!'_ Coda shouted at him, _'We've practiced for something like this, remember?'_

' _The things I do for you, Coda. I swear you're going to be the death of me someday,'_ Ninetales sighed as pulses of intense cold radiated from his body, the change in temperature was so rapid that the very air around him began to flash-freeze into crystalline shards. _'If I get pasted, I'm finding some way to haunt you,'_ Ninetales quipped as the shards began drifting into alignment. With a sigh of resignation, he squared his shoulders and began charging up power within his body.

' _You won't, trust me'_

' _Uhh, Coda,'_ Mawile hesitantly interjected, _'hasn't—'_

' _Not now Mawile, just wait for my signal.'_

With a roar of barely-contained power, Ninetales and Primarina let loose in the same instant. The Soloist's move flew straight towards Ninetales, fully intending to wipe him away, but the Fox's move didn't. No matter how much power is put into it, Ice Beam would never be as powerful as Hydro Cannon, but outside factors could tip the balance. That was the purpose of the array Ninetales constructed.

The beam hit the first crystal in the array, and split. Each of the smaller beams bounced from crystal to crystal, growing in intensity before merging back into a single beam to meet Primarina's halfway. Unlike with the Freeze-Dry, there was nothing to obscure the interaction between the two moves. It was beautiful, in some terrifying way, to watch the column of water repeatedly freeze and shatter under its own pressure as it traveled ever closer to the resistor's source. Even with all the magnification the beam went through, even with Primarina still weakened by the Aurora Beams, Hydro Cannon was ever so slightly more powerful.

Just like in any system, no matter how closely matched two opposing forces are, the center of mass will accelerate along the path of the larger force. And accelerate the center did.

' _Any second now, Coda,'_ Ninetales pleaded.

' _Substitute, now!'_ Coda commanded, literally waiting until the last second.

' _NEVER make me play beam chicken again,'_ the Fox insisted, seemingly teleporting to Coda's side as Hydro Cannon obliterated his former position.

' _No promises, but I don't think that will work a second time,'_

' _At least give me some warning next time.'_

' _I will,'_ Coda reassured him, _'Ninetales hem Primarina in with Ice Shard; Mawile use Thunder Punch and take her out!'_

" _With pleasure!"_ Ninetales roared, his voice tearing chunks from the permafrost he'd created.

' _I thought you'd never ask, Naki!'_ Mawile chirped as electricity surged across her arm.

Primarina tanked the shards without flinching, then flawlessly parried Mawile with an Iron Tail of her own. Coda just smiled, everything was going according to plan.

' _Mawile, use Covet. Target Maxwell,'_ Coda broadcast.

' _You got it, Boss-lady!'_

The Deceiver Pokémon quickly rounded on the Alolan and struck at his wrist. Maxwell was just a hair too slow to avoid the hit.

"Liquidation," he ordered with a frown, something wasn't right here.

Primarina quickly followed the order, slamming into Mawile with a wall of water.

Barely managing to control her flight, Mawile awkwardly slid to a stop in front of Coda. _'Is this what you wanted?'_

' _It is,'_ Coda broadcast back, taking a pale blue gem from Mawile, _'Thank you.'_

"You lose, Maxwell," she declared, a pale blue aura whipping up around both herself and Ninetales.

" _Awww yeah!"_ Ninetales whooped, every last shard of ice in the courtyard rising at his cry.

Surprised, Maxwell placed his hand on his bracer, immediately finding the empty spot. "Clever girl, but things get real interesting from here on out," he said, removing his hand as both he and Primarina were covered in a blue aura. "Now, If you win, I'll shove off like you asked me to."

"And if you win?" Coda asked.

"How soon can you be in Cyllage?"

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here's yet another Outsiders Side Story for your, courtesy of Firebird Zoom. She worked extremely hard on this and she's eager to hear your guys' thoughts.

In case any of you are wondering, this segment takes place during the Battle Chateau arc and is not concurrent with the Ambrette Town arc. It's important to set up another Flare Admin, this one Nakagawa Coda, as well as further the last major Flare activity of this season.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **Zander2212:** Not exactly, but I do get what you were getting at. Absol in Outsiders is meant to embody Louise's drive to protect those in harm's way. As such, Absol wants in to help prevent said disasters. And yes, Carnegie saying that was a tongue-in-cheek reference. I couldn't help myself.

 **Saraak:** I thought about it, but having a dinosaur eat a guy would cause a lot of ethical issues to be brought up. So I went with Shogun simply not liking how Nedry tastes and leaving him behind. And I'm happy that you liked Shogun's thoughts. It was a lot of fun to write them.

 **DPSS:** Louise's Pokemon evolving first was a deliberate balancing act to make up for the fact that Saito got most of his team first. His will start evolving soon enough, though. We're reaching the point where a lot of evolutions will ensue in short order.

 **Princess Asuna:** I assume you mean Owen? If so, that wasn't necessarily a reference to Jurassic World. I just felt the line worked there.

Now, the next posting will be a mainline episode, and will come in a few weeks. We hope you guys enjoy and let us know your thoughts! See you next time!


	45. Season 1, Episode 10, Chapter 1

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 10, Chapter 1**

* * *

"I had a nightmare last night," Elizabeth told the mirror, "I thought I was done with them, but I guess that derp-sword, or whatever its name was, dredged up more than just bad memories. I suppose that's also why I'm talking to you again."

The mirror didn't respond. After all, it was merely a piece of reflective glass mounted on a wall, and those can't talk. Elizabeth didn't care.

"Yes, I know there are actual people I can talk to now," the verdette continued, "but I've told you before why I don't." She looked away, unable to even meet her reflection's gaze. She took a deep breath. "Wish me luck today."

But glass doesn't feel emotion or empathy. Even if it could, an inanimate object cannot wish someone luck. Elizabeth didn't mind, mirrors couldn't betray you any more than your reflection could.

The verdette didn't need to curl her hair today. Her exposition match was in just a few hours, and her persona's hairstyle was sufficiently different from her usual one that it would be wasted effort. Somehow, Elizabeth felt tired. She had been looking forward to this all week, so why the apathy now? The verdette shook her head and splashed water on her face. She needed to be in top form today, and second-guessing herself wouldn't help. Finally working up her courage, Elizabeth walked out of the bathroom, only to sigh upon seeing a regretfully common sight. Eevee and Zorua were squabbling again. Machamp had long since given up trying to mediate between the two, deciding to lean against the wall with his arms crossed while continuing to watch the tussling canines intently. Elizabeth never tried, figuring that if even Machamp had failed, she stood no chance.

 _A mirror can't betray you._

"Come on, Zorua," Elizabeth said, picking up the fox, "Janet wants to talk to us downstairs."

Eevee shot a nasty look at Elizabeth while Zorua just looked relieved. Elizabeth's hand curled into a fist. A locust swarm of thoughts blanketed her mind.

 _Idon'tdeserveyouyoudon'tdeservemeIdon'tIdon'tIdon't—_

A jolt of pain. The swarm died. Her hand felt damp.

" _I had a nightmare last night."_

Red became green became red became green became red. Zorua yipped in concern.

"I'm fine," Elizabeth replied as she opened the door and walked downstairs. She couldn't be late, after all.

* * *

"You guys sure you don't want a ride up to Cyllage? I have more than enough room," Calem once again offered as they waited outside the Muraille Coast entrance into Ambrette Town. The dawn sun cast an orange light over the city and coastline, and the trainers felt it was a beautiful sight.

Louise waved him off. "We appreciate the offer, Calem, but we must refuse. Saito and I want to hike up to Cyllage City. We could use the extra training time."

' _In more ways than one,_ ' Louise thought. Had Calem asked the question just yesterday morning, assuming the fossil wasn't an issue, she and Saito might have taken him up on his offer. After all, the prospect of getting to Cyllage in only an hour versus a whole day of walking was a happy prospect. But, as Louise looked back down at the four Luxury Balls strapped to her belt, she was reminded that life tended to throw curveballs wherever it could.

"Besides," Saito added, "we didn't really experience it the last time, so we wouldn't be retreading any lost ground."

"… Can't say I really blame you guys," Calem admitted with a shake of his head, a smile gracing his lips. "If I just got a bunch of new Pokémon, and a brand-new evolution, I'd want to get to know that a little better before a Gym Battle, too."

"Exactly." Saito's words rang true in Louise's eyes, although she couldn't help but note that her situation was much more precarious than his own. Calem nodded then released his Gogoat, mounting her and grabbing hold of her horns.

"I best be off. My next delivery's taking me straight to Lumiose City. I hope we can see each other again, soon."

"Likewise, Calem." Louise smiled genuinely, and Calem smiled back before he and Gogoat rode off down the road, bounding up the mountain trail and out of sight. Louise and Saito watched him go for as long as they could until they couldn't even hear them, then looked at each other.

"So, we get everything?" Saito asked his travelling partner, and Louise nodded.

"Yes," she replied, fishing through her bag. "I stocked back up on supplies at the PokéMart, including food and travel gear. According to the PokéNav, we should arrive in Cyllage in by about mid afternoon, giving us plenty of time to train as we go."

Saito nodded as he pulled out his own bag, the Pokémon Egg carefully nestled inside. The sight of it made him immensely relieved that they had left it in the hotel room rather than bring it with them. He didn't want to think about whether the chaos of the attempted Ambrette Fossil Heist would have damaged it. Louise couldn't help but look at it as well with the same relieved eyes as its owner. Part of her regretted her previous decision not to accept the Daycare's original offer, yet at the same time knew it was the correct one.

"Do you know how far along it is?" Louise asked, and Saito nodded.

"It's getting closer," he admitted as he continued to fumble around his bag for something. "Espirit told me that she'll be ready in about two or three weeks."

"Guess that prevents you from using her during your battle with Grant." Louise winced as soon as the words left her mouth while Saito stared at her dumbfoundedly.

"… Louise, she'd be a newborn."

"Yeah, I realized it as soon as I said it. _Anyway_ , what are you even looking for?" Louise asked, hoping to change the subject. Saito squinted his eyes in concentration and poked his tongue out from the corner of his mouth, reaching his arm deeper into the bag.

"Well," he grunted, "I figured that since we'll be on the coast for a bit, it might…be…fun…to – Found it!" Saito announced as he pulled out two collapsed rods, one red and the other blue. He handed the red pole to Louise, who looked at it in mild curiosity.

"What is this?" she asked. Saito smiled as he extended the rod. "Oh, a fishing pole."

"Yeah! I figured that it might be fun, and or relaxing. Have you ever gone fishing?"

Louise combed through her memories before shaking her head. "I can't say I have, no."

"It's easy. If we find a good spot, we can try them out." Saito said as he collapsed the rod and placed it back in his backpack, Louise repeating the action. After both zipped up their bags, they looked back out over the coastline and breathed in the salty air. They then looked back at Ambrette Town, the recent memories playing back out through their minds.

The museum would be closed for another few weeks, according to the investigators. Luckily, all the equipment and fossils stolen were recovered inside the semi-trucks parked in the docking bay, and the open displays out in the main foyer were merely worthless fakes. Them being destroyed was no real issue for the museum. Mr. John Hammond, a wealthy, elderly gentleman who owned the museum, had personally arrived to thank the three of them for their efforts in protecting his prized fossil museum. In addition to a rather large sum of money as a reward, he even extended an invitation to a Fossil Pokémon biological reserve he had set up off the coast of the Alola Region. Admittedly, the thought of an overseas tropical getaway filled with wonderous Pokémon was rather appealing, but she had to decline.

Luckily, Mr. Hammond saw fit to make the invitation indefinite. Perhaps if she had time before, or maybe even after, the Pokémon League.

Result aside, Louise couldn't help but look back at Team Flare's latest criminal activity with the benefit of hindsight. Once again, they had gotten lucky, managing to catch an unprepared criminal cell with their pants down. A cell that, for all intents and purposes, was incompetently led. There was no guarantee that, should they come across Team Flare again – which Louise figured to be an eventuality – their luck would hold. She could tell that Saito felt the same way but resolved to leave that discussion for later.

"Well, we aren't making any headway standing here," Derflinger announced as he floated forward. "You guys comin' or not?"

Both trainers looked at the Honedge and nodded before proceeding to quickly catch up to him. The trio continued to make their way down the sandy coastline, hugging the rocks as they did as they kept their attention focused on the beautiful scenery around them.

"By the way," Louise began as they continued to walk, moving around a large rock while Saito decided to skip on top of it, "were you questioned by that Smith dude again?"

"Arceus, yes! I swear, he was, like, glaring into my soul. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost think he thought _we_ were Flare."

"Why would anyone believe that?"

* * *

"I'm telling you, ma'am," Smith regaled into his phone, watching the two trainers and their talking Honedge continue their trek down Route 8. "We're well past coincidence territory. First, the Mega-Beedrill Incident in Santalune Forest, which we theorize to be a potential Flare Weapons Test. Then, Maxwell Fletcher's raid on the Kalos River Daycare Center. Now, Joshua Carnegie's cell tries to steal fossil revitalization equipment. Every single one of these events are tied to this girl and boy. They have to be connected somehow."

"… _Smith, what are you suggesting?_ " his commander asked, exasperation in her voice. " _Do you honestly think those two kids are Team Flare, after they actively worked to stop them?_ "

"It's a possibility, however seemingly unlikely. They could be part of a rival cell taking out their competition." Smith paused to let his commander sigh once again. He knew she didn't always agree with his theories or even tactics, but at the same time had learned to trust his judgement. "Moving on, recent events have me concerned. Coda Nakagawa's trail has gone completely cold, and I recently found her abandoned compound thanks to some odd weather patterns. I think Fletcher is related, somehow. It's possible that he's finally putting into motion the 'revival' plans he wouldn't shut up about."

" _Do you have any ideas what his next steps might be_?"

"Right now, nothing. It's possible that he might have allied with Coda to try and regain his powerbase."

" _That's the last thing we need. I'll assign Looker and his partner after they investigate Alola's recent Ultra Beast problem. In the meantime,… Do you honestly think the children are connected?_ "

"If not directly, then at the very least the two will almost assuredly run into Flare again. Children tend to run into criminal organizations in this world."

" _That they do. Alright, I'll approve your continued surveillance. But, do_ not _harass them, you understand? Keep a distance and only interfere as needed._ "

"Of course, ma'am. Smith out."

* * *

Lyco's Lounge would never be called a lively venue. On most days, the lobby would be considered "busy" if at least three people besides the receptionist were present. Today wasn't quite normal. Janet had only been out of the lobby for, at most, three hours–even she needed to sleep–but when she returned, it was positively crowded. Well, she would hesitate to call it a crowd if it were anywhere else, but it was once in a blue moon when Lyco's Lounge had more than six people in its lobby at one time. She already knew Raven and Erina had yet to return and, for once, she didn't have any paperwork she needed to catch up on. For the first time in a long, long time, Janet let her curiosity guide her.

"So, what brings you to Cyllage?" she asked as she approached the newcomers. All five immediately recoiled, confusing Janet. Had she surprised them? Had they not noticed her entering the room? Maybe she should ask again, this time in a softer tone.

"No need to be so frightened, I won't bite," she spoke again, this time with a note of levity as she gestured to her mask, "I'm a local, so if you're looking for anything I might be able to help."

"Oh, just that?" one of the five asked in relief, "Well, we're here for a reunion, but it's not until later today, so we're just milling about until then."

"Oh, I know quite a few interesting places here. Do you want any recommendations?"

The five looked amongst themselves, each shaking their heads in turn.

"No," the spokesman said, "We have our day planned out already."

"Ah," Janet replied, her face falling beneath her gas mask, "Well, have a good day, then."

"You, too."

 _'That was a waste of time,'_ Janet thought to herself as she walked across the room, ' _They were probably just too engrossed in their conversation to notice me.'_ With every possible method of distraction exhausted, the raven-haired woman was left to just sit and wait for Raven and Erina to return. She hoped it wouldn't be too long.

"We had her dead to rights!" Raven exclaimed as she staggered through the front door, "I don't understand what happened!"

"Well, speak of the devil," Janet muttered.

"She wasn't alone, obviously," Erina weakly replied, clutching her head, "I told you we should have been more alert."

Janet rose from her seat and cleared her throat as she approached the two. "Well, it's nice of you to finally show up," she deadpanned, "In case you don't remember, you have a match later today."

"Really?" Raven whined, "Do we have to?"

"Yes, you do," Janet snapped, "Elizabeth's introduction relies on your match and the two of you are _**NOT**_ ruining an introduction in my ring."

"Do you have to rub it in?"

"Urgh…" Erina groaned, and Janet raised her eyebrow.

"What? Nothing to say?" Janet demanded.

"Concussion," the silver-haired woman muttered, "Thinking hurts."

"I'll have someone take you to the clinic later," the green-eyed woman conceded, "but right now I need you in the conference room."

"Sure, sure..."

"Fine…"

Without even bothering to look back, Janet strode off toward her destination as she forcibly blinked back tears. It was times like these when she wished Versus and the other producers kept their trainers on a tighter leash. She was always the one stuck dealing with the consequences of their trainers getting into fights, not them! Every single one of them had some form of golden parachute if a bad hire or a scandal wrecks their business, all she had was her house and her arena.

It wasn't like this issue was a solely 'her' issue, either. The sad fact was that PWE had been going downhill since The Necromancer retired from the Interregional circuits. While she was sure his influence was still felt in the Unova circuits, she wasn't sure how long that would last. With his departure, PWE lost one of its biggest symbols. Without that symbol, the almost gravitational force that drew in new people on both sides of the ropes just felt somewhat less. Even the most out-of-touch producer could tell the circuits needed a new symbol to stay relevant, but none of them really knew how to fix that problem. For all the hope Versus pinned on Diego, he couldn't fill the void Calaway left behind, nobody could. She had figured it out early in her career, after all. His shoes were just too big to fill. She could still remember the first time they met, it wa—

 _let every action build your character\oh? so you're challenging me?\keep your focus\I've learned your every move\let it flow naturally\do you feel powerless\don't worry, it's all scripted\all this data, I won't lose again\don't let fear stop you\_ _ **I**_ _\let every action\you won't escape now\keep focus\an expected counterattack\_ _ **CAN'T**_ _\keepyourfocus\letitflow\keepyourfocus\letitflow\_ _ **BREATHE!**_

Janet tore off her gas mask, taking breath after greedy breath of air. There was nothing wrong with the filters, nothing wrong with the mechanisms. She didn't put it back on. She was just so tired.

She knew she couldn't do anything to fix the issue. Even if she came out of retirement, she just wasn't the right person to carry on Calaway's legacy. 'Do you feel powerless?' was a phrase plastered all over her marketing, but it wasn't the invention of some scriptwriter or PR person. The line had been an ad-lib. Sure, the others had praised her for "getting into character," but she hadn't even known she had said it until after the fact.

Even back then, she knew that it wasn't Scarecrow who gave that line, it was Janet Crane. How could she even attempt to be like Calaway? Just look at what she had been worrying about. She was no better than Raven, no better than _Versus_. What good was it to worry about a problem she couldn't even work to solve?

"Miss Crane? Are you okay?"

Janet opened her eyes and looked up to see Elizabeth. When had she fallen?

"I'm fine, Elizabeth," Janet replied, "And, please, just call me Janet."

"Oh, okay," the verdette said, awkwardly looking away before turning back and extending a hand, "Do you need any help?"

Janet was surprised. So much of how the verdette acted reminded Janet of her younger self, yet this came almost out of nowhere.

 _Don't let fear stop you._

Janet took Elizabeth's hand. "Thank you," she said.

Janet Crane might not be able to fill the shoes of the Necromancer, but she could at least honor his memory.

* * *

After a few hours of hiking, Louise and Saito found themselves a nice clean patch of sandy beach nestled between two rows of boulders and a sheer cliff-face. It was a perfect environment to both take a break as well as do some training, which the two trainers quickly took. Their Pokémon enjoyed the chance to stretch their legs as well, and everyone had already broken off into separate groups.

"Alright, everyone," Louise announced to her gathered Pokémon. They all looked up to her expectantly and excitingly while she held her fourth Luxury Ball in hand. "I know we didn't get the chance to really introduce ourselves to our newest teammate last night, so now's the perfect time to do so."

Looking back down at her Luxury Ball, Louise thought over the name she had spent the entire morning thinking of. She scoured the history and legends regarding Absols, about how they were prophets of disasters and living bad omens. Her recent experiences with this particular Absol lent credence to that belief, and in the end the choice of name came naturally.

"Come on out, Auspice," Louise proclaimed as she opened her ball, releasing the Absol onto the soft sand. Auspice stretched out her back and legs before regarding the rest of her newfound team. Espirit was by far the most excited, her face beaming while holding out an inviting hand. Aile was more indifferent, focusing instead on her newfound evolution and how it was suddenly much harder to fly. Brennaraki, meanwhile, was more neutral. On the one hand, Auspice would clearly be a valuable addition to their team, yet at the same time she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealously course through her.

Finally, after a long moment of silence, Auspice released a soft cry. " _An honor to meet you all,_ " she said.

' _Likewise!'_ Espirit replied, only for Auspice to not acknowledge her. For a moment, Espirit was confused. ' _Oh right, Dark-Type. Well, time for me to learn Miracle Eye!'_

" _I don't know what she said, but is she always this excitable?_ " Auspice asked as Espirit bounded in place, and Brennaraki nodded.

" _Yep, you get used to it after a while. Anyway, name's Brennaraki. The Kirlia is Espirit, and the flightless Fletchinder over there is Aile. I'm Louise's starter. That's—"_

" _The first Pokémon humans receive when they first start their journeys. I am aware of humans and their customs, including their propensity to name creatures other than their own._ "

"… _I guess that means you're okay with your nickname, then?_ "

" _The word 'auspice' means 'a divine or prophetic token'. It is adequate and fitting, given the disasters that follow her and my ability to detect them."_

Brennaraki paused for a moment. " _Part of me wants to counter that and defend my trainer, but at the same time I know you're kind of right. A_ lot _of crazy stuff has happened these past couple of months._ "

" _Indeed,_ " Auspice replied before turning to regard Aile.

" _Come…on…stupid thing!"_ Aile complained as she struggled to maintain her lift, only to flap far too hard and spiral out of control, crashing into the sand. " _Dang it! Stupid added body mass!_ "

" _You're flapping too hard,_ " Auspice advised as she watched Aile pick herself off the ground. " _A Fletchinder's center-of-mass is different from a Fletchlings, and you need to recognize that. Control your wingbeats and try taking smaller steps before jumping straight into full flight._ "

" _Oh geez, you think?! Thanks, Captain Obvious. Any other helpful suggestions?_ " Aile spat back as she shuffled her body from side to side. Auspice remained silent, and the Fletchinder scoffed. " _Thought not. If you don't mind, leave the flying to the Flying-Type Pokémon. Unlike you, I actually know—"_

" _Are you going to whine all day?_ " Auspice interjected, throwing Aile off.

" _Wha—I am not-!_ "

" _You are, and I don't much care for it. The energy you spend on whining about your predicament is energy not spent on improving yourself. So I suggest,_ " Auspice leaned her face closer to Aile, so suddenly felt nervous, _"you stop wasting your time. Am I clear?_ "

"… _yes, ma'am._ "

As Aile retreated from the Absol's stern expression, Louise watched in curiosity then looked down at Espirit. "Um, Espirit? Translation?"

' _Aile was whining again, and Auspice put a stop to it._ '

Louise looked back up at Auspice, who was now coaching Aile's efforts to regain control of her flight. She and the Kirlia tilted their heads to the side inquisitively, while Brennaraki looked on with awe.

"… _I like her!_ "

Meanwhile, on the other end of the patch of sand, Saito watched as his Pokémon introduced themselves to Shogun once again, only this time in a much calmer setting. It surprisingly took little for the freshly revived Tyrunt to acclimate to his newfound setting, which Saito chalked up to Shogun's pack instincts. Notes on Tyrunts and Tyrantrums indicated that they, especially when they were young, were pack hunters led by a single Tyrantrum alpha. Something told the boy that Shogun saw him as the alpha this 'pack', for lack of a better word.

Moving on from that train of thought, Saito scanned the Royal Heir Pokémon with his Pokédex. Skimming through the summary, Saito focused on Shoguns current calculated stats and known moves. As he suspected, his Attack stat was by far his greatest strength, followed by Defense. His Special stats, however, were abysmal, borderline worthless even. His Speed wasn't anything to brag about, either. Saito quickly decided that any training with Shogun would focus on his more physical characteristics.

"Alright, Shogun. Let's see here," Saito said, bringing his Pokémon's attention to him. "According to this, you know… Tail Whip and Tackle. Not a whole lot, but I expected this. You did just revive last night, after all. Still, it's something to work on."

Pocketing the device, Saito knelt onto the sand and allowed his Pokémon to draw closer. He couldn't help but notice that Maindo was keeping himself distant from the others and himself, even after all this time. It was starting to become clear to Saito that, despite everything they've been through, Maindo still kept himself closed off. He was starting to suspect that it was intentional.

Idly, he also noticed that Shogun was making sure Maindo was always in sight, but that was more amusing than anything else.

"Here's what we're going to do. Our next Gym Battle is with Grant. He uses Rock-Type Pokémon. Ronin, Tengu, Tanuki, you guys are up front. All of you are strong against Rock-types, so I want you three to go off and practice among yourselves. Maindo, Shogun, come with me. We're going to train on our own for a bit."

Ronin, Tanuki, and Tengu nodded at the order and began walking towards the nearby rocks, Tanuki picking up Tengu and tucking her under his arm upon realizing that they had accidentally left her behind. Her stoic expression remained unchanged despite being manhandled. Saito chuckled at the sight before walking away, throwing his hand towards himself to tell his remaining two Pokémon to come with him. Shogun happily came in behind him, while Maindo groaned and remain standing where he was.

Seeing this, Saito paused and frowned as did Shogun. "Seriously, Maindo? Can you cut the attitude for one day, at least?"

Maindo refused to respond, instead deciding to teleport away and sit himself on top of a particularly large rock. Saito groaned and rubbed his forehead, wondering what to do in this situation, while Shogun narrowed his eyes at Maindo. Tentatively walking forward, Shogun looked up at the Ralts from the base of the rock.

" _We go now,_ " Shogun ordered, only for Maindo to scoff.

' _Nah, I don't think I will,_ ' he countered. ' _It's not like you or I are needed for Grant. The idiot said it himself, let the plant and dogs take care of it._ '

Shogun growled, recognizing an insult. Still, he pressed on. " _Don't care. He alpha. You follow alpha._ "

Rather than acquiesce to his demands, Maindo laughed. " _Oh, that's adorable! Only joined up last night and already you're a true believer! Truly, you're an inspiration to us all!_ '

Shogun growled again while Saito sighed. "Derf, what's he saying, now?"

"Being his normal self, that being an asshole," Derflinger answer. Maindo smiled at both the answer and Shogun's continuing growling and agitated tail whips.

' _You know me so well, Derf.'_

"Yeah, yeah. Are you coming, or are you just going to continue sitting up there all high and mighty?"

' _I don't know. Pretty nice up here. Nice view of the ocean, a cool breeze on my face. It has it all, really._ '

Derflinger rolled his eye, telling Saito all he needed to know. Starting to get annoyed, Saito decided to try a different approach and stomped his foot. "Seriously, Maindo. Come on, I'm done playing games. Now, are you going to willingly come with me to train, or are you-?"

Saito was cut off as a small rock was lightly flung at him, causing him to duck under it. The rock rebounded off the cliff, and upon righting himself, Saito saw a cheeky Maindo waving at him. Shogun was absolutely enraged, growling intensely at the Ralts. Saito and Maindo stared each other down, daring the other to make the first move, before Saito finally let out a defeated sigh and turned around.

"Come on, Shogun. I wanted to work more closely with you, anyway."

Shogun looked back up at Maindo for a few more seconds before reluctantly turning around and following his trainer. Maindo smiled as they left, ignoring the glares the other Pokémon, even the ones in Louise's team, were giving him. He didn't care.

"Maindo, you puzzle me sometimes," Derflinger admitted, breaking Maindo's concentration.

' _How so, Derflinger?_ ' Maindo asked in a mocking manner, although he was admittedly curious.

"One moment, you're fighting alongside us with no issue. But the next, as soon as the danger's past, you start being combative and trying to drive everyone away. I'm starting to think you're doing that on purpose. My only question is why?"

Maindo shrugged. ' _Perhaps there isn't a reason. Maybe it's just because I'm an asshole._ '

"Uh-huh, sure." Derflinger sounded skeptical and began to float after Saito and Shogun. He then paused right after passing Maindo and began to speak once again with his back turned to his audience.

"You know, the thing about being an asshole to everyone you meet is that, while it's fun at first, it'll only harm you in the long run. People don't like people who are jerks. They tend to drive everyone away."

' _Maybe that's not such a bad thing?_ '

"Thought you'd say that. Here's the thing, though. Your petulant behavior has so far only happened around people who, miraculously, still care about you and want to keep you safe. You keep acting like this, eventually no one will care about you when you need them most."

' _What are you blabbering on about?_ ' Maindo asked, irritation seeping into his mental voice, only to flinch once Derflinger's eye bored into his own.

"In case you've forgotten, I've been around for a _very_ long time. I may not remember everything, but I do remember countless soldiers who acted exactly as you do, driving everyone away with their behavior because they thought they were better than everyone else. They tended not to come back from campaigns, and no one mourned for them."

With that final warning, Derflinger left a silent Maindo behind. He watched as the Honedge disappeared then stared back out over to the others. Some were still glaring at him, specially Auspice, but Maindo paid them no heed.

After all, why should he care what they thought of him? It wasn't like he'd be around forever.

* * *

Shogun sat on a tree stump as he looked out into the coastal forest. He could hear birds chirping and insects clicking, feel the breeze whistle by his rather large head. Closing his eyes, he breathed in through his nose and smelled the gentle scent of nearby flowers. In the distance, he could still hear waves breaking against the beach. All combined, he found them to be a quite pleasant experience.

Rather than attempt to rouse his newest Pokémon, Saito was content was stay silent and give Shogun his moment. The Tyrunt was grateful for this, and he found that his impression of his alpha being a considerate one was accurate.

"So, kid? What'dya think?" Derflinger asked. Shogun breathed in again then opened eyes, turning his head to look at both Derflinger and Saito.

" _Is nice_ ," Shogun replied. " _Am enjoying myself._ "

Saito nodded, able to understand what Shogun was saying, if not directly. He stood up, drawing Shogun's attention towards him, then they walked a little further into the forest.

"Shogun," Saito began, "before we start, I want to clarify what we're doing. You see, Louise and I are Pokémon trainers. We're trying to be in a competition against other trainers called the Pokémon League."

Shogun tilted his head inquisitively, prompting Derflinger to lean in close to the Tyrunt's head. "Think of it as fighting for dominance."

" _Ooh._ " Shogun nodded his head. He could instinctively understand why his alpha – or trainer, as he apparently insisted he call himself – would desire such a show of dominance.

"Yes," Saito continued. "I want you to help me with winning the League. To do that, you and I are going to be training together to get both of us stronger. Will you help me? If you don't, I fully understand. I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do."

Shogun thought it over for a second before enthusiastically nodding. The way he saw it, not only was Saito his trainer, one that had already earned his respect, helping him assert his dominance would enable himself to experience more of the brave new world he found himself in.

Saito smiled and rubbed Shogun's snout, the Tyrunt purring at the affectionate gesture. "Thanks, buddy. Now, let's get started. Our first Gym Battle is against Grant. He specializes in Rock-types, so right now we're going to focus on that.

"You see those rocks over there?" Saito pointed to a large group of rocks scattered to the side. Shogun looked at them for a moment then nodded back at Saito. "You and I are going to break 'em."

Shogun's toothy grin was the only answer Saito needed.

* * *

Louise sat on a rock across from Auspice. Both she and the Absol stared into the others' eyes, each unblinking. The other Pokémon, even Maindo, watched the two closely. Auspice tilted her head slightly to the side, prompting Louise to do that same.

"… _Why are we doing this, again?_ " Brennaraki finally asked in a whisper.

" _You kidding? This is the most intense staring contest I've ever seen,_ " Tanuki answered.

' _Yeah, so shut up,_ ' Maindo continued, eating from a bag of chips he had stolen from Louise's bag.

Louise felt her eyes strain under the stress of keeping them open for this long. She honestly didn't know how this impromptu contest had started, nor why she had decided to go along with it, but the Founder as her witness she wouldn't back down. To her immense irritation, Auspice didn't appear to be phased at all. The Absol almost appeared to be smirking.

"Damn…you…" Louise cursed, and Auspice's smirk turned into a full-on smile. Louise gritted her teeth then leaned forward to stare further into Auspice's eyes, the Absol repeating the action.

" _Our two combatants are still going at it,_ " Ronin announced as if he were a sports commentator, sitting behind a horizontal rock. " _The drive and focus from them is palpable, don't you say?_ "

' _Indeed, Ronin,_ ' Espirit replied, sitting next to him. ' _It's truly awe-inspiring._ _What do you think, Tengu?_ "

Tengu said nothing, the blank expression never leaving her face before she did an approximation of a shrug. In response, the two Pokémon commentators nodded and hummed in deep thought.

" _Truly, powerful words there, Tengu._ "

' _And fitting._ _Thank you._ '

Tengu nodded before hopping off the rock, plopping feet-first into the warm sand and waddling over to the others. Maindo couldn't help but stare slack-jawed at the Seedot, wondering just what she had said or if she said anything at all. Shaking himself, he turned his attention back towards Louise and Absol, and it was clear to him that the staring contest was just about over.

' _Come on…blink…_ ' Louise internally commanded Auspice, who still appeared to be no worse for wear. She knew that she didn't have much time before her body would force herself to blink, her eyes screaming at her to let them close, but she still refused to submit. Her pride wouldn't –

Any further thoughts were dashed as Aile suddenly crashed into the ground next to them, kicking up sand that buffeted both Louise's and Auspice's eyes. They were forced to close them and began to rub their eyes, trying to get the sand out, while Aile picked herself back up.

" _Okay… I was up for ten minutes that time. It's a start,_ " she commented to herself as she brushed the sand off her wings. She then felt two dark presences staring her down, and the Fletchinder slowly turned to regard both Louise and Auspice. Dark auras pulsated around them, and Aile felt a pang of sweat trickle down the back of her head.

" _Heheh… Bye._ " Before Louise and Auspice could do anything, Aile suddenly took off into the air, leaving the two enraged individuals behind. They screamed after her indignantly before taking off, leaving the other Pokémon behind.

" _In a stunning turn of events, the contest has turned into a tie!_ ' Ronin announced as he and Espirit watched Louise and Auspice chase after Aile.

' _All thanks to outside interference, too! I've never seen anything like it before in my life!_ ' Espirit excitingly proclaimed. The rest of the Pokémon nodded appreciatingly at the commentary before going back to their training. Maindo, meanwhile, simply stared unamused at both Ronin and Espirit with a dry expression.

'… _I swear, you two need hobbies._ '

* * *

"How are you feeling, Elizabeth?" Diego asked.

"I'm fine," the verdette curtly replied, not moving from her place by the window, "Why do you want to know?"

"No need to get defensive, I just wanted to know how you were dealing with any last-minute jitters."

"I'm not worried about the match," Elizabeth said after a beat of silence, "I feel more confident about it than I have for anything in the past five years. It's just… well," red became green as the verdette sighed, "something bad is going to happen, I just know it."

"Well, I've got a pretty good idea," Janet interjected, throwing her hands in the air, "your damn context is going to dip the whole show!"

"What's wrong?" Diego asked, concern evident in his tone, "Have Raven and Erina returned yet?"

"Oh, they have. Nearly thirty minutes ago, at that!" Janet snarled, "They're all beat to hell and Erina somehow managed to get a concussion, so I'd be somewhat forgiving of _some_ delay, but not a whole thirty minutes!"

Elizabeth winced in sympathy. She knew from experience how debilitating a concussion could be. "Will they still be able to do their match?" the verdette weakly asked.

"If they hurry up and actually show, maybe," Janet huffed in defeat, "But if they don't get here soon, they might not recover in time!"

"A concussion?" Diego asked in disbelief, "What were they doing for the last few hours?"

"Hell if I know!" Janet screamed as she flopped into a nearby chair.

Zorua could barely suppress a shiver. Despite having having only knowing her for a little less than a month, Elizabeth could tell that Zorua was having trouble imagining anything strong enough to beat up Erina or Raven, much less take on both at once. However, the verdette tried to remain more hopeful, green returning to red once more.

"Well," she began, "maybe it's not as bad as—"

"—And then she just _had_ to get her friends involved," Raven ranted as she forced her way into the room, an injured Erina in tow, "It's like they're all too cowardly to face us without some of them blindsiding us!"

"Oh," Diego said through gritted teeth as he laid eyes on the new arrivals before politely looking away, "You're right, Janet, this could be problematic."

Zorua couldn't agree more, following suit almost immediately. But Elizabeth did not. Something inside the verdette kept telling her to—

 _don'tlookawaykeepwatchingkeeplooking_

Raven looked horrible. Her left eye was already blackening and the rest of her body was covered in numerous scrapes and bruises. And all that wasn't even mentioning the awkward angle her right arm was bent at. By comparison, Erina looked like she had taken far less damage, but the knowledge of her concussion made Elizabeth question the assumption. The verdette couldn't help but feel ill at ease. All those injuries, yet she could still say those—

 _seeseeseeyouknowyouseeyoukn—_

Elizabeth flinched.

 _A mirror can't betray you._

"Where were you Raven?" Janet demanded, "You two are putting tonight's show in jeopardy!"

"No need to worry, Janet," Raven replied, "We'll be right as rain when the show comes around, right Erina?"

"Unnnn…" Erina groaned.

"That's what I thought!"

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Janet screamed, her eyes visibly moistening, "The only reason we're in this situation is because you guys decided now would be a good time to try and make good on your grudge, since that _obviously_ worked out _so_ well the last twenty times you tried!"

"You don't understand, Janet!" Raven shot back, "Do you know how embarrassing it is to get the crap beaten out of you by someone half your age?"

Something about those words sent a chill down Elizabeth's spine. Sure, the Little Rose wasn't _that_ much younger than she was, but she certainly looked the part.

 _A mirror can't betray you._

"It's been _years_ , Raven!" Janet screamed right back, tears rolling down her face, "How long are you going to hold on to that petty grudge!?"

"As long as it takes to get even!"

Red became green became red became green once more as tremors propagated across Elizabeth's body, Raven's words echoing over and over in her mind. Her head hurt. It hurt so—

" _Surrender, -, or she dies!"_

" _What are you doing!?"_

She was back. Why was she back?

Elizabeth frantically looked around, but all she could see was the same staircase, stretching on and on forever. Yet she could still see him at the top, pressing that demon to her neck.

She took a step, then another, then another, the silk around her arms tightening all the while. The handles chafed her hands, but she kept gripping them tighter as she—

 _Crack!_

She was on the floor. Her head hurt, but at least she was back in the conference room.

 _I had a nightmare last night._

Slowly, carefully, Elizabeth rose to her feet and looked around the room. Janet had backed Raven into a wall, tears now fully streaming down the twintailed woman's face.

"Why don't you back off a little, Janet?" Raven pressed, "I think you've already—"

Janet socked her in the face. "Shut. Up," she snarled, "Diego!"

"What?" he asked, "It seemed like it was more your problem than—"

"Well, it's your problem now. Make sure these two idiots are ready for the match tonight." Janet stormed over to Elizabeth and grabbed her wrist. "You're coming with me, Elizabeth."

"Where are we going?" the verdette asked as she was dragged along.

"Anywhere but here!" Janet all but shouted as she wiped tears from her face.

[~][~]


	46. Season 1, Episode 10, Chapter 2

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 10, Chapter 2**

[~][~]

"Sorry about earlier," Janet said, setting her gas mask down on the table, "I've had a stressful past few months, and I guess…" She paused, placing her hand on her face, "Sorry."

"You don't need to keep apologizing, Janet," Elizabeth replied.

Janet opened her mouth to speak but stopped herself. The raven-haired woman let out a sigh as she stared down at the table. For an agonizingly long moment, silence reigned in the room. The whole experience seemed to stretch on endlessly…

...only for Zorua to break the spell with a yip.

" _Heh_. Where are my manners?" Janet said with a laugh as she got up from the table, "I bring a beautiful girl home and I don't even have the decency to ask her if she wants anything to eat."

"Janet!" Elizabeth shouted, burying her reddening face in her hands, "That's not funny!"

"It is to me," Janet retorted, smirking as she unlocked the cabinet over her sink, "How old are you?"

"Old enough to drink, if that's what you're asking," the verdette replied, nonplussed, "I don't drink, though."

"Why, if I might ask?" she asked, pulling out a handful of bottles, "I thought everyone your age fancied themselves connoisseurs of alcohol."

" _Keh,_ I wonder what that says about your teenage years, Janet," Elizabeth wondered out loud.

"That doesn't answer the question, Elizabeth," Janet said as she turned to face her guest, a smile on her face.

Elizabeth didn't reply, merely staring down at her hands as she remained silent.

"Uhh…" Janet stuttered out, her good mood faltering, "D-did I ask a bad question?"

"No, not really," Elizabeth hesitantly replied, her eyes seemingly shifting from their usual maroon to a shade of green that left before it fully registered, "I've just seen what the bottle can do to better men than me, and I don't want to make that mistake."

"O-oh… Fair enough," the older woman dumbly said, turning back to the cabinet, "I think I have a few soft drinks in the house — unless you'd prefer water?"

"What do you have, if you don't mind me asking?" the verdette calmly queried.

"Let me check," Janet replied, rooting around in the cabinet, "Yes, I'm disorganized. I'm not used to having guests." She paused as her hand found an unfamiliar bottle. Flummoxed, the twin-tailed woman pulled it out of the cabinet and read its name in confusion. "'Ginger beer.' When did I buy this?"

"You don't remember?" Elizabeth asked back as she rose from the table and walked over to Janet, "Do you at least know how old it is?"

"I don't know," she replied, turning the bottle over in her hands, "It's unopened, at the very least."

"I've had ginger beer once before," the verdette said, holding out her hands for the bottle, "maybe I'll have that."

"I guess I'd be a bad host if I didn't also have a glass," Janet said, handing the bottle to her guest before moving to grab a pair of glasses.

"You don't need to do that for my sake, Janet," Elizabeth protested.

"And here I thought 'Don't serve anything you wouldn't eat yourself' was a rule of good hospitality," Janet replied with a smirk, "besides, it's no trouble for me to have just one glass."

"If you say so," the verdette said after a moment of indecision, "I'll go set this down then."

"Take your time, Elizabeth. There's no need to hurry," Janet waved her off, turning instead to the quandary of what glassware she was supposed to use.

Sure, using champagne glasses might seem a little ill-suited for a soft drink, but they were small enough that she could carry both in one hand. It was too bad that she lost that tray, otherwise— Wait, was that it? It was. How annoying.

Janet sighed as she cleared the bread wrappers off the tray and pulled down a pair of the larger glasses. What was that, twelve loaves worth of bread ends? Well, that's another thing to put on her never-ending list of chores. Ok, what's next? Ice? Yes, ice and some bowls for the Pokémon.

She still had the ball on her right?

Quickly moving through the last few tasks, Janet hurried back to the table, her tray now laden with a pair of ice-filled glasses and a brace of bowls filled with water.

"Sorry I took so long," Janet apologized, hastily setting out the cups and bowls. Zorua yipped in gratitude and began lapping away at her food.

"Again, no need to apologize," Elizabeth reassured her, "Though, why two bowls? I get that one's for Zorua, but who's the second one for?"

"Let me show you," Janet replied, a grin splitting her face as she pulled out a Pokéball, "Meet Spettro."

The ball split open, depositing a small, green creature onto the table. The newly-revealed Sewaddle chirped in joy as she scuttled over to the unoccupied bowl.

"Spettro? Why is she called 'Spectre'?" Elizabeth asked.

"She tends to up and vanish the second you look away," Janet explained, "My mother named her, if you wanted to know."

"That's actually kinda cute," Elizabeth said. Janet smiled and nodded in agreement; Spettro was rather cute, after all.

"You know," Janet began, "My mom wanted me to find a home for Spettro here."

Elizabeth looked at the older woman in confusion before realization struck.

"Don't tell me you're considering me…" Elizabeth murmured, shrinking into herself, "It's bad enough my current team has to deal with me. I don't want to make another suffer."

"Really, Elizabeth?" Janet deadpanned, "I may have only known you for a week, but you're not that bad."

"You've only known me for a week." What Elizabeth meant by that, Janet didn't know, and the look of shame on Elizabeth's face told her not to press further.

"Fine, fine," Janet muttered, pinching her nose, "Just humor me. Take Spettro with you for now, and if you really feel like she can't stand you, give her back to me before you leave town."

"Fine," Elizabeth whispered, defeated.

"I can't hear you."

"Fine! I'll humor you," Elizabeth repeated, louder this time, "It's not going to work out, I can already tell you that."

"If that's settled for now," Janet sighed, cracking open the bottle and filling the two glasses to about halfway, "On three?"

"Do you want to count, or should I?" Elizabeth queried, picking up her glass.

"Why not together?"

"Eh, why not?"

""One… Two… Three!"" With that, both women downed their glasses and immediately began coughing.

" _Ahhh!_ What the hell was that?" the verdette snapped.

"'Beartic Growler' apparently," Janet replied between coughs, reading off the label, "Ow."

"I echo that sentiment."

* * *

Louise stared out across the open water, holding a slightly melted chocolate bar in hand. She could hear the waves crashing against the sand and beach, smell the salt in the air. Behind her, the Pokémon continued their training – Espirit even managing to coerce Maindo into joining them – and above the water she saw Aile flying around as she normally did. Louise smiled, happy that her Pokémon managed to overcome her momentary speedbump.

' _Or flying-bump? Turbulence? Whatever the flying equivalent is,_ ' Louise ruminated while talking a bite out of her chocolate. Savoring the taste, she almost didn't hear a rustling sound coming from the rocks adjacent to her. Turning her head to face them, she couldn't see a thing and so chalked it up to nothing. She pulled out her Pokédex and opened the map. They were only a few hours away from the city, likely arriving sometime between 3 and 4 PM. That was acceptable to her, but if she was being honest with herself, they likely wouldn't attempt the Gym Challenge for at least a day or two. There were still more preparations to be made.

Another rustling sound, one akin to rough scales grinding against rock. Louise shot her head towards the rocks but again saw nothing. Narrowing her eyes, she took another bite from her bar and slowly turned back to her Pokédex. She looked out and found Auspice laying sprawled across the sand, soaking in the Sun's rays, and so Louise scanned her latest Pokémon.

" _Absol, the Disaster Pokémon. Absols have been known throughout history for their ability to precognitively sense disasters, which also led to people misattributing those disasters to them. Research has determined that an Absol's horn is highly sensitive, able to pick up the slightest changes in the earth and atmosphere._ "

Louise hummed to herself. The information was interesting, but something she already knew. How she and Auspice first met – even if not in person – convinced her as such. What it didn't tell her was how Auspice could detect purely human disasters, but she chalked that up to Auspice simply being an observant and proactive individual. One who was also very calm, collected, and didn't take excuses. She reminded Louise of her mother at times, and part of her wondered what their meeting would be like.

Sadness quickly coursed through Louise's mind, causing her to frown. Espirit quickly perked up, sensing her trainer's sadness, but Louise waved her off. Nodding back at her, Espirit continued practicing her psychic abilities, focusing on slicing rocks apart with Magical Leaf or crushing them with Confusion. Aile was also practicing her moves, utilizing her newly learned Steel Wing to destroy chunks of rock on low swoops. Knowing that she was at a disadvantage in the upcoming battle, Brennaraki was focusing on mastering the two moves she needed to succeed, Solar Beam and Sunny Day. Scrunching her eyes tightly, Brennaraki felt the solar energy being absorbed by her fur, slowly reaching a tipping point. When it finally felt like she was about to burst, Brennaraki opened her eyes and mouth and fired a bright-green beam of concentrated solar energy into the water.

"Good job, Brennaraki!" Louise cheered as she shielded her face from the falling water droplets. The Fennekin beamed at the praise, and Louise smiled at her starter. "Keep working on it. Try to absorb more solar energy before firing, and don't forget to work on Sunny Day."

Brennaraki yipped and nodded before concentrating once again. This time, she felt a fiery heat build in her gut, and she released that heat into a concentrated ball high into the air. Instead of exploding, it instead released a hanging cloud of light that baked the ground below. Brennaraki and Aile – now a Flying/Fire-type – sighed contently at the added heat while the others merely sweated and moved away.

' _Geez, do it away from us next time!'_ Maindo complained as he teleported to the far side of the sandy clearing. Brennaraki sheepishly smiled then moved farther out to avoid getting the other caught up in her training.

Louise smiled and shook her head before looking over Auspice's moves. The Absol knew many, but the ones that caught her eye were Swords Dance, Night Slash, Slash, and Detect. These, among others, would clearly be useful in the upcoming battle.

When yet another rustling noise sounded from the rocks, this time much more closely, Louise shot up to her feet in alarm. Something was there, but she still couldn't see it. Straining her eyes, Louise let her arm drop to the side, still clutching the chocolate bar in hand. She heard nothing, remaining fixated on the rocks, only for a brown blur to shoot out from her side, snatch the half-eaten chocolate bar right out of her hand, and run away across the beach. Louise looked at her hand in shock before looking towards the thief.

"Wh… SHOGUN!" Louise yelled as Shogun stared out at her victoriously, her chocolate bar handing out of his mouth. The look on his face told Louise everything she needed to know, and she pointed at him. "Don't you _dare_ …!"

Shogun looked at her for a few more moments before happily tiling his head up, causing the chocolate bar to fall back into his throat. He chewed, savoring the sweet taste, before swallowing and looking back triumphantly towards a flabbergasted Louise. The noblewoman looked back at him in shock, slowly building to fury, before she began to hear Saito's laughter coming in from behind a large rock.

"SAITO!" Louise yelled, immediately figuring that he was the cause behind this apparent prank. Saito, still laughing, walked out from behind his cover and smiled without regret.

"Present," he said, and Louise huffed and crossed her arms, tapping her foot as she silently demanded an explanation. "Oh, come on, it was funny."

"It wasn't to me…" Louise muttered. To be honest with herself, she did find it kind of funny, but her pride refused to let her admit it. Saito chuckled at her rebuttal before motioning towards her.

"Come on," he beckoned, "we gotta do some training of our own."

Louise couldn't help but groan as she reluctantly walked towards her friend. "P.E. Yay…"

At least she finally got proper workout clothes this time.

* * *

"Yes, yes. Thank you for telling me that. See you this afternoon, Diego," Janet said, hanging up her phone and stepping away from the lamppost she had been leaning against, "Well, that was better than I feared."

"How so?" Elizabeth asked, Spettro squeaking in agreement.

"Diego decided to take some initiative, for once in his life, and had Eevee and Machamp moved over to the arena," Janet explained, "They should be there when we arrive."

"Oh, that's one less trip, I guess," the verdette replied, idly stroking the Sewaddle. The Pokémon had admittedly begun to grow on her, although she still wasn't quite certain she was a good fit for her.

"It gets better," Janet continued, "Raven is one hundred percent injury-free and, barring a flare-up of her chronic case of the stupids, she will be able to perform tonight."

"And Erina?" Elizabeth asked, voicing the question Zorua no doubt had on her mind.

"That's trickier," Janet admitted, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly, "While she's technically in the same boat as Raven, I'm worried her concussion might affect her performance. I will probably go see if any of the locals will be able to sub in on such short notice."

"Well, good luck, I guess," Elizabeth said as she walked away, "I'm sure you need it more than I do."

Janet frowned at that but didn't say anything as the verdette walked off. As much as she wanted to break Elizabeth out of her funk, she needed to make sure tonight's match went smoothly. With a dejected sigh, she pulled out her cellphone, only to pause as something caught her eye.

"What the hell...?" she muttered, hastily putting on her gas mask as she stormed into a nearby plaza.

According to Cyllage's event schedule, the stage in this plaza should have been empty. Seemingly in defiance of the city's bureaucracy, a group of people was at the stage, hurrying to get it set up. On almost any other day, Janet would have ignored them and kept walking, but her arena had an event today, and one she held a personal stake in at that. She was getting to the bottom of this.

Her course set, Janet stormed toward the nearest tech with a single-minded ire.

"Hey!" she shouted once she was within grappling distance, the filters on her mask distorting the cry into something terrifying, "What's all this, then?"

Unaware of Janet's approach, the tech all but jumped out of her skin at the loud sound. "W-what?" the tech sputtered out, backing herself up against a nearby crate.

"What. Is. Going On." Janet repeated, more forcefully.

"A-a c-concert."

"A concert?! I already–" Janet paused, taking a moment to calm down, maybe she was overreacting a little, "I keep a close eye on Cyllage's event schedule, yet I saw no mention of _this_ until I physically came here. Explain."

"I-it was a k-kinda spur of the moment th-thing," the tech stammered out, "b-but I assure you that a-all our permits are in order."

"Sure they are," Janet drawled, "Who's in charge here?"

"I am, miss," a young voice said.

Turning to face the newcomer, Janet saw a young girl perched on another crate. Looking down at the girl's dress, a monochrome thing obviously styled after a fairy, she frowned.

"I want to talk to the manager, not the idol," Janet clarified.

"He… He quit a couple days ago," the girl hesitantly said, "Something about him not being able to work with my image."

"I guess that makes sense," Janet scoffed, "You didn't think to check if there were any events happening on the same day."

The girl's face slowly morphed into an expression of realization as she jumped off the crate and ran over to Janet. "You had a concert today too, didn't you? I'm so sorry!" she cried, distraught.

Janet exhaled sharply, her mask translating the noise into a menacing rattle. The tech flinched away, but the idol dropped her hand to the Pokéball at her waist. Interesting.

"It's no worry," Janet carefully said as she turned and left, "Just be sure to do more research next time."

"Oh!" the idol suddenly said, "My show's at five, you won't miss it, will you?"

"I'm a busy woman, don't count on it."

* * *

After nearly an hour of running, curling, doing push-ups and sit-ups, and things she didn't even have names for, Louise collapsed in an exhausted heap onto the soft and warm sand. It might as well have been a fluffy down mattress for all her body cared, and she breathed heavily. Sweat glistened off her skin, and her eyes were wound shut.

"You did better that time," Saito declared, sitting down next to her. He was similarly exhausted, although not to Louise's extent. "Improved your kilometer time by almost a minute, even."

"Yay…" Louise droned, her eyes still closed. She felt a cool breeze wash over her, cooling her slightly, and after a few moments she opened her eyes. Saito offered a hand and she took it. Sitting up straight, she crossed her legs and stared out over the sea silently.

"I'm going to get changed. After that, fancy a quick spar before we head on out?" Saito asked.

"Sure," Louise nodded, not turning her head to regard her friend. Saito nodded back then walked away, the sand softly crunching under his foot. Only when Louise could no longer hear him did she turn around to scan the area. She found no one, not even her Pokémon, and only now did she feel comfortable enough to pull her workout bag off her back and open it. Pulling out her clothes, she found a small nook nestled between some rocks and went inside to gain some more privacy.

She began to change, and Louise couldn't help but notice a rather new development for herself. A layer of muscle was beginning to form across her diminutive body, courtesy of all the hiking and physical exercises Saito forced her into on a semi-daily basis. The layer was small, especially compared to some others she had seen during her travels, but it was still there. She felt across her bicep, giving it a soft squeeze before moving on.

As she continued to change, more of her added musculature became clear to Louise, and her thoughts drifted back. At one point in her life, not even a few months prior, she could have found the sight to be shameful. After all, she was a noblewoman. Magic was supposed to be her forte, not physical labor. That was for the commoners, and she was supposed to be better than that. Yet now, after spending a few months in Kalos, her opinion had begun to change. Louise no longer felt that her muscles were a source of shame. Instead, she viewed them with pride for they, unlike so much else in her life, were fully gained and earned by herself. She had worked hard to gain them, much as she did to learn magical theory or learn the skills of being a Pokémon Trainer. Yet, although most of her attention was focused on being a trainer, she couldn't help but feel that an equal measure of the gains belonged to her Pokémon. While she learned new strategies and tactics, they learned new abilities, new moves, some even managing to evolve. Part of her felt it was uneven, slanted towards their end, but she also knew they'd be the first to disagree.

Still, she knew that for as much of the strides towards Pokémon Training were shared between her and her team, the entirety of her gains physically was all her own. Louise was proud of that, and although she didn't see herself becoming a body-builder, she wouldn't mind continuing to work on improving herself. Even if she hated it after doing so.

"Louise, you ready?" Saito called out from somewhere the noble couldn't see.

"I'm coming!" Louise called out as she hastily put on the last of her clothing. She walked out, carefully placing the workout gear into her bag. Even after tightening the top, she could still smell the sweat. The first thing she was going to do once they got to Cyllage was take a shower and wash her clothes.

"Alright, I'm here," Louise said as she rejoined her party. Saito was waiting for her, Shogun waiting excitedly by his side.

"I figure it might be good for us to do a spar with our newest Pokémon," Saito suggested. Louise quickly thought it over and found that the idea made sense. They only had both Shogun and Auspice for barely a day, and in just a few more they'd be up against their first Gym Leader. Although both Pokémon clearly showed their capabilities during the heist, that was them operating on their own. How'd they operate under their direction was another question entirely.

"Sounds good to me," Louise replied with a nod of her head. "Auspice, can you come here, please?"

Auspice nodded before walking over to her, looking almost regal as she did. Standing by her side, the other Pokémon quickly found perches for themselves that were far enough away to be safe yet close enough to jump in just in case something went wrong.

"Standard spar rules, right?" Derflinger asked while hovering over everyone. Both trainers nodded, and Derflinger nodded back. "You guys know the drill, and let's not go overboard. First one to five hits wins."

Saito and Louise nodded, understanding the rules. Auspice nodded as well, but Shogun tilted his head slightly in confusion. A fight having rules? It made no sense to him. For that matter, why was his alpha and whom Shogun assumed to be his mate fighting against each other?

Derflinger, apparently seeing the confusion, called down to him, "Think of it as a play fight, dino!"

' _Oh! Me see!_ ' Shogun replied, shaking his body from side to side. That made sense to him, and with his body still shaking he crouched down low, facing towards Auspice. The two sides regarded each other for a moment, and the air seemed to go still.

"Auspice, Night Slash!"

"Shogun, Bide!"

Both trainers shouted their orders. Auspice bounded forward, swinging her head-blade towards Shogun. The blade itself was covered in a dark purple aura, and a quick slice hit Shogun across the face just as a white glow basked over him. The Tyrunt recoiled from the attack, but then quickly shot the stored energy from his maw. The attack struck, Auspice not expecting the Bide to retaliate so quickly. Neither had Louise for that matter.

"One to one!" Derflinger announced, but neither trainer paid much heed.

"Wasn't that supposed to take longer?" she asked, genuinely curious. Louise distinctly remembered Bide taking at least a few attacks to fully charge.

"I had Tengu work with Shogun to both teach him Bide as well as get it firing off faster," he admitted. "Not as strong, but—"

"No, no, I see the use. Good thinking," Louise cut him off before thrusting her had forward. "Auspice, use Quick Attack!"

The Absol disappeared into a blur, striking Shogun across the side and sending him skidding across the sand. Angered, he ran forward to face the Absol head on.

"Use Quick Attack again!" Louise ordered, hoping to end the spar quickly. As Auspice blurred towards Shogun, Saito thrust his arm forward.

"Jump up and use Stomp!" Saito ordered. Shogun jumped up, just barely passing over Absol, and then quickly descended onto her back. Auspice cried out in pain from the stomp, and Saito then ordered Shogun to use Bite. Shogun complied, biting down on the back of her neck with his powerful jaws. He began to thrash from side to side, Auspice struggling to get herself free.

"Double Team!" Louise ordered. Suddenly, Auspice split into several copies of herself, causing Shogun to leap back in surprise. Now freed, Auspice quickly retaliated with Slash, slicing her head-blade against Shogun's snout. He recoiled, stepping back a few paces, then snarled.

"Tied again; three on three!" Derflinger added, keeping his eyes focused on Shogun. He trusted the Absol completely, but the instinct-driven Tyrunt was a different matter. There was no telling what he might do when pushed to his limit, and he prepared to intervene at a moment's notice.

"Let's end this quickly; Auspice, use Feint!" Louise ordered. Auspice's body glowed purple as she ran towards Shogun.

"Use Bite!" Saito ordered. Shogun snarled as he ran towards Auspice with an open maw, only for Auspice to suddenly jump to the side and strike his side. Shogun fell to the ground then quickly shot to his feet, fully enraged. This play-fight was not going the way he wanted. He was supposed to easily beat Auspice, showing his alpha how strong he really was, make him proud. But at this rate, Auspice was going to win, and he didn't want to disappoint Saito. He looked around, trying to discern a way to win, when his eyes settled on a proud-looking Louise.

Instinct fell over him, and his eyes narrowed into slits as he turned to face her. Auspice immediately understood exactly what thought was running through his head, but before Shogun could even take a step, Derflinger surprised everyone by flying down and striking Shogun across the head, burying him in the sand.

"Fight's over!" he announced, staring Shogun down. Saito and Louise were confused, even more once Auspice bounded in front of Louise, keeping herself between her trainer and a recovering Shogun.

"What happened?" Saito asked, confused and a little alarmed. Derflinger looked at him, his gaze not angry but merely understanding.

"I was afraid of this," he said as Shogun regained complete control of himself. At once, a sense of unyielding shame coursed through him, and he backed away from everyone. Louise looked at both, her gaze dancing between Shogun, Auspice, and Derflinger, and then she understood. A sense of horror began to dawn on her, and she gasped.

"Was he…?" she tentatively asked, and Derflinger nodded. Saito understood then, too, and he looked livid.

"Shogun!" he shouted, causing the Tyrunt to shrink into himself more. He had almost made a colossal mistake, and the looks the others were giving him weren't kind.

"Why would he do that?" Louise asked.

"I've seen it happen before," Derflinger revealed. "The more instinctive a Pokémon is, the more dangerous they can be. Sometimes, they can lose control. He was operating on instinct back at the museum, and I was worried he might fall into that during the spar. Turns out I was right."

Saito and Louise both looked at Shogun, the Tyrunt flinching from their gaze. Saito glared for a little longer before sighing and rubbing the back of his head. He tried to think on what to do, but before he could do anything, Louise steeled herself and walked past Auspice and towards Shogun. Saito was shocked, but immediately understood what Louise was doing once she knelt in front of the ashamed Shogun.

"Shogun," she began, "Shogun, look at me."

He did, and Louise could see the shame in his eyes. Part of her was angry that he would even consider such a thing, but at the same time considered the Pokémon before her. He clearly hated himself for what he almost did, and from what Derflinger had revealed, it wasn't really his fault. He was a revived fossil Pokémon, barely a day old. Him operating mostly on instinct was to be expected. Better to find that out now than in an actual battle.

"Hey, hey," she said, rubbing her hand across his rough scales. "I'm not hurt, and I know you would never hurt me."

"Louise is right," Saito joined in, kneeling next to her and rubbing his hand across Shogun's back. "I'm sorry I yelled. I shouldn't have done that; it wasn't your fault, Shogun."

Shogun growled softly, and without needing translation, both trainers understood what was said.

"I forgive you, Shogun," Louise silently spoke, rubbing her hand across the Tyrunt's snout.

"Same here," Saito added, "just don't do it again. To her or anyone else, got it?"

Shogun nodded, rubbing his head against their hands. They stayed like this for a few moments before Louise felt a vibration in her pocket. Reaching around, she pulled out her Pokédex to see an email from Professor Sycamore. She opened it, feeling everyone's gazes fall upon her, and they waited anxiously.

"Well? What is it?" Saito asked as Louise closed the device and looked towards him.

"I have a package waiting for me at the Cyllage Pokémon Center," Louise revealed. "Delivered by some woman named Athena. Don't know what it is, the message didn't say."

"Huh," Saito hummed while rubbing his hand across his chin. He then shrugged. "Well, that's an invitation as any to get a move on."

Louise nodded, then began to return her Pokémon to their Luxury Balls. Saito did the same for his, and before long the two began to walk back down the route towards Cyllage.

"By the way, what's the game plan?" Saito asked.

"Right now, planning on getting there, training for a few more days, then challenging him," she revealed.

"Taking my advice, are you?" Saito asked with a cocky grin.

"The last Gym Leader I fought was Viola, who had only Bug-types when both of my Pokémon were strong against them. I got pulverized. This Gym Leader is Rock-type, which none of my Pokémon are effective against and, in fact, half are weaker. I'm not going to make that mistake again."

"Good, that means you're learning."

"Don't patronize me," Louise joked, and Saito laughed.

* * *

The rest of the hike was uneventful, with the lone exception of a wild Pokémon encounter with a Drifloon that tried to make off with Louise. Apparently, it thought she was a small child and tried to play with her. Louise didn't appreciate that comparison, although Saito silently found it hilarious. Derflinger was much more open about his amusement, much to her consternation. Still, once the trio found themselves at the entrance to Cyllage City, after days of hiking and numerous other encounters, they let out a sigh of relief.

"Finally," Saito remarked. "Felt like it's been forever since we've set off for Cyllage or even challenged a Gym Leader."

"I know what you mean," Louise remarked, then shuffled her bag across her back. While Saito continued to take in the sights of the city, Louise pressed on. She only noticed she had left Saito behind when she was a fair distance from him, and with an annoyed huff she turned around and beckoned him forward.

"Hurry up, Saito!" Louise called back at him, "I don't want to keep Professor Sycamore's courier waiting any longer than we have to."

"Louise, there's no need to worry," Saito reassured her.

"Saito, some of us actually value punctuality," the rosecrown retorted.

"Oh! She got you there!" Derflinger cut in.

Saito just smiled and shook his head. "Well, if you're so worried about being late—" the boy paused, his eyes drawn to a nearby poster. "I don't know if I've said this before, but this 'Duchess of Roses' person seems familiar."

"Who?" Louise asked, walking over to see what Saito was looking at, "Oh. Didn't you say you followed PWE? You've probably seen her before, then."

"But this is her exposition match, apparently," Saito countered, "The whole point is that we haven't seen her before."

"It doesn't matter Saito," the rosecrown pleaded, "Let's get moving already!"

"Fine, fine. I'm going, I'm—" a white blur whizzed past Saito, cutting off what he was about to say, "What was that?"

Seemingly noticing their attention, the blur collected itself into a large, floating snowflake and began leering at them, chunks of ice drooling out of its mouth.

"Oh, I think that's a Cryogonal," Derflinger helpfully added, "I've heard that a number congregated around the husk of the First Dragon, but I've never actually seen one in person before."

"That's cool," Saito said, prompting a snicker from Tanuki as he pulled out his Pokédex, "I wonder what this says about you."

"If you two are going to waste time gawking at random people's Pokémon, I'm just going to go on ahead," Louise said, walking off.

"Okay," Saito replied as he scanned the Pokémon in front of him.

" _Cryogonal, The Crystallizing Pokémon"_ the device chirped, _"They are born in snow clouds. They use chains made of ice crystals to capture prey."_ Saito hummed to himself appreciatingly, but the Cryogonal, now seemingly annoyed by the attention being given to it, turned and flew off.

"Huh," Derflinger muttered as the icy Pokémon disappeared.

"'Huh', indeed," Saito concurred, tucking his Pokédex into his pocket, "We probably should get moving, though. Let's not annoy Louise any more than we already have."

* * *

Cyllage City's Pokémon Center was bustling with activity as Saito entered. While the level of activity was not unusual for a Pokémon Center, especially one in a city as large as Cyllage, Saito couldn't help but feel as though he came in the middle of rush hour.

"Derf," he began, "do you see Louise anywhere?"

"Nope. Even with her rather distinctive hair, this place is too crowded and she's too short," the Honedge replied.

"Don't let her hear you say that, Derf."

"I might, if only to see her reaction," Derflinger chuckled, "Anyway, I'd hazard a guess that she's either at the main desk or making her way over there."

"Well, let's—" Saito began as he prepared to step forward.

"Saito! Watch out!" Derflinger yelled. Before Saito could react, something barreled into him. Taken completely unawares, the two tumbled to the ground, Saito unfortunately ending up beneath the second party.

Surprised, and a bit dazed by the collision, Saito opened his eyes to see… Louise? No, this woman wasn't Louise, though there were certainly some similarities. Mostly lying with their similar hair colors. However, Saito was drawn to her eyes. Louise's eyes were unmistakably pink, to the point where Saito had initially thought she had some form of albinism but, from what little he could tell with her head roaming about as it was, this woman's were a bright violet. And she was apparently speaking to him.

"Hello. Hello. Are you even paying attention?" the woman babbled, "It's rude to ignore people, you know."

"Uhh… I—" Saito tried to answer, only for the woman to verbally steamroll his reply.

"It's rude to block people's path. I know without a doubt you saw me, you just thought your conversation with your Honedge – you should clean him by the way, he's looking rather rough – was more important than common courtesy," she continued, shifting her arms slightly, "You were standing there long enough to notice that someone was walking there, why didn't you move? You were blocking a door, you still should have moved even if you hadn't seen me. Hello. Hello. Are you even listening? It's rude to ignore people. You should pay more attention to your surroundings, it's discourteous not to. Was your conversation with your partner so important that you had to block the walkway? He looks like he's been rusting in a cave for years, why aren't you taking care of him? It's not polite to block doors, you know. What if someone wanted to get into this building, but couldn't because you were blocking the way? Hello. Hel—"

"Uhh, ma'am...?" Derflinger tried to cut in.

"Shut up. It's rude to interrupt," the woman snapped before slipping back into her earlier babbling without so much as a gap for Saito to interject.

Having already seen that talking to her wouldn't get her to stop, Saito turned to the only other option he could think of: shoving her off. Or, he would have, if he was able to move his arms. The woman had pinned Saito's arms beneath her when she fell on top of him, and, whether by accident or by design, she had landed in such a way that he couldn't move his arms at all.

"Stop squirming about!" the woman jabbered on, "You should have paid more attention. You brought this on yourself."

' _Tauros shit,_ " Saito thought as he tuned out her continuous monologue, focusing instead on finding a way out of the situation. Louise was still nowhere to be seen, Derf probably wasn't strong enough to drag her off, else he would have done it already, and Tanuki was just sitting there, chuckling to himself. Wait, Tanuki was there!

"Hey, Tanuki!" Saito pleaded, "It stopped being funny a while ago. Would you mind giving—"

"Hey, my glasses!" the woman suddenly exclaimed, sliding off Saito and spinning to her feet in an almost feline manner before tearing off, snatching a parcel and a pair of broken glasses off the ground as she went. The trio watched as she scampered off, appearing to forget their little conversation, and only once she finally exited his sight did Saito let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Tanuki, we're having another talk about appropriate times to laugh at others' misfortunes," Saito said as he righted himself, "but that's going to have to wait until later. You said we should check the front desk, Derf?"

"Yes," Derflinger idly replied, seemingly distracted.

"Something on your mind?" Saito asked.

"It's nothing," the Honedge hesitantly answered, "I'll tell you later."

"Okay, Derf, lead the way," Saito replied.

* * *

"Thank you for coming! Please consider visiting again," Nurse Joy said, "Could the next guest please step forward?"

Glad that it was finally her turn, Louise moved to the desk and, pushing past her growing sense of unease with the clan of identical people who apparently ran most of the major services in the region, took the next step towards achieving her short-term goal and maybe getting some more hot chocolate. "Hello? I was told that there was a package waiting here for me," the rosecrown said.

"Give me a moment," Joy replied, opening a tablet, "Would you mind giving me your name?"

"My name should be listed as 'Louise Vallèrie.'"

"Ah! Here you are," the nurse exclaimed, "Athena should have your package. She's…" Joy paused, glancing around the room, "There she is."

With a sigh, the nurse activated the intercom. _"Athena, please make your way back to the mailroom. Athena to the mailroom please."_

"I'm sorry for any inconvenience that might have caused you," she continued, "Athena's a bit like a cat: if she gets bored, she'll just wander off. Anyway, you know where the mailroom is, right?"

"Unfortunately, I don't," Louise admitted.

"Well, it's just over in that corner," Joy replied, pointing off to one side.

"Ah, thank you." Louise politely bowed, then made her way towards the mailroom.

Much like all the other Pokémon Centers Louise had visited in the past, Cyllage's mailroom was little more than an alcove set against the back wall. When she arrived, Louise was pleased to find a woman in the Center's uniform – telling _not_ a Nurse Joy – already waiting behind the counter. Glad she wouldn't have to wait, the rosecrown approached the clerk.

"Hello," she politely began, "My name is Louise Vallière and I'm looking for Athena. I have been told that she is holding on to a package for me."

"Oh, it's you," the clerk replied, relief audible in her voice, "Maybe she'll finally calm down after this."

"Ma'am is she here?" Louise asked, worried by the deflection.

"She's right behind you," the clerk obligingly answered.

"Excuse—?" Louise began.

"Is someone looking for me?" a woman said at the same time, startling Louise.

"I'll leave you two to it," the clerk said as she slipped off, "Come see me when you're done, Athena. We've had a greater influx of trades than we were expecting today, and we need all hands on deck."

"I'll be there," Athena reassured her, "just give me a minute."

Still more than a little off-kilter, Louise tuned to face the courier, fully intending to just take her package and leave. However, the second she laid eyes on Athena, her mind all but froze in its tracks.

During her brief stint as one of Professor Sycamore's assistants, she had seen a visual record – or "documentary," as Dexio had called it – about a set of triplets in Unova who had been separated at birth and only ended up meeting each other by random chance. At the time, Louise hadn't really understood it, but now she could feel some empathy for the men.

"Uhh, hello?" Athena queried, breaking Louise out of her thoughts, "You are Louise Vallière, correct?"

"Yes, I am," Louise automatically responded, shaking her head to clear her mind. Sure, it wasn't quite the same, Athena was taller and obviously more mature physically than she was, but it was still uncanny.

Memories of her manor's portrait gallery rose to mind unbidden, one quickly pushing its way to the front.

" _Why are there so many children in that painting, Father? I thought you were an only child."_

" _Well… You see, Louise—"_

" _They all died before it was painted. That's why they're all barefoot except for him."_

" _Why would you say something like that to your sister, Éléonore!?"_

" _Because it's true. Why should I keep that from her?"_

"Hello. Hello. Are you okay?" Athena spoke up, pulling Louise out of her thoughts once more, "Do you want your package, or not?"

"Sorry, sorry," Louise hurriedly apologized, taking the parcel from the courier, "You look a lot like my sister."

She froze. Where had that come from? Sure, Athena looked a lot like Cattleya and probably wouldn't seem out of place in a family portrait, but why did she even say that out loud?

"I do?" Athena replied, a little surprised, "Nobody's ever said something like that to me before. What's she like?"

"W-well, she's very kind and gentle," Louise struggled to reply, taken off-guard by the question, "She really loves animals, and she has amassed quite the collection despite not being able to leave the house."

"Aww," Athena cooed, "I'd really love to meet her. It sounds like we have a lot in common."

"Yes, I'm sure you would," Louise agreed, slowly walking away, "Anyway, I have to go now. Maybe we could talk again sometime?"

Athena didn't respond, and Louise silently exhaled in relief as she got further and further away. Her short interaction with the courier had been unsettling enough and the rosecrown was not interested in talking to that Athena woman ever again. With any luck—

"Wait!" Athena exclaimed, spinning Louise around, "I just remembered why your name seemed so familiar!"

Louise flinched at the unexpected closeness. How had Athena managed to get so close so quickly?

"W-what do you mean?" Louise hesitantly asked.

"You were at the Kalos Daycare when Flare attacked it, weren't you?" the courier babbled, pushing closer to the smaller rosecrown, "What was it like? How did you manage to fend off so many of them for so long? You were heavily outnumbered, tactics alone couldn't have evened the field. What about those explosions? What was causing them? What about your friends, Mr. Hiraga and Miss Colette?"

"I-I," Louise stuttered out, slowly trying to back away from Athena.

"You were at that museum when Flare tried their heist, and there were explosions there too, so they were connected to you, weren't they?" Athena pressed on, her grip on Louise's shoulders tightening as an almost feral grin split her face, "Come on, come on. You can tell me. I won't bite. You don't have to be scared."

"U-uhh, Miss Athena, could you please give me some space?" Louise pleaded in distress as she felt her back hit the wall, "You're making me uncomfortable."

"Oh, sorry, sorry," Athena offhandedly replied, leaning in until her face was mere centimeters from Louise's, "Don't you have anything to say?"

"Hey! What are you doing!?" someone shouted from outside of Louise's vision.

"Eh?" Athena muttered in confusion as she stepped away from the younger rosecrown, "Oh, it's you. You! You broke my—"

"Yeah, I don't care," Saito cut in as he violently shoved Athena aside, causing her to fall over with a loud squawk, "Leave my friend alone."

"Hey!" she shouted in protest, but Saito ignored her as he moved to Louise's side.

"Let's get out of here, Louise," he said.

* * *

If Elizabeth were to give her younger self any piece of advice, "Don't expect costume changes to be quick affairs" would rank right behind "Don't wander off in places of death" in terms of urgency. As it was, the process of "becoming" the Duchess of Roses, so to speak, had been one of the most stressful experiences she'd had in a while. Though, if anything, the stillness let her just _think_ in a way she hadn't been able to in a long time.

" _Am I a bad person?"_

The verdette blinked in confusion. Where had that come from? Sure, she had done some… less than stellar things in recent months, the breaking and entering charge that very nearly went on her record certainly attested to that, but she was trying to be better. Wasn't she?

Was she? Was she really?

Every decision she had made since she had first met the Little Rose had been motivated in some way or another by spite. Her decision to steal Brennaraki – might as well call it what it was – her half-hearted flirting with Hiraga (it wasn't her fault he was dense enough to fall for it), her half-cocked rematch with the Rose after that earned her a slash across her face, her decision to chase after the rosecrown, the list could honestly go on and on.

She had been cursed by a rose, but did that make her the Beauty or the Beast? The story had been told both ways, after all. Maybe that's why she picked her theme. It truly was "Beauty" and "Beast" mixed together in perfect dissonance. She was like a rosebush, after all: pretty on the outside, but jagged and snarled once one looked beneath her exterior.

 _How could anyone care for someone like her?_

Simple. They didn't or were wasting their time thinking they could. Why would _she_ be considered worthy of care, after all?

"Sorry for taking so long, ma'am," the makeup artist said, speaking for the first time since she started, "I'm going to need your help for the next bit."

"Sure," Elizabeth automatically replied, "What do you need?"

"Do you want to put on the scabbards yourself, or should I do it?"

"I'll do it if you don't mind," the verdette said, red becoming green.

"Okay," the makeup artist replied, handing over the two scabbards.

Acting on instinct, the verdette strapped on the belts. The swords were a little lighter and her waist a little thinner than what she remembered, but the task was simple enough, she remembered doing it hundreds of times, after all.

Taking a deep breath as green returned to red, Elizabeth took her hands off the swords at her sides and looked up at the clock. It read 4:42 PM, and she sighed to herself. Although her exhibition wouldn't be starting for a few more hours, she didn't want to be late.

* * *

Louise glanced nervously around the cafe, still not entirely convinced she had escaped the crazed woman.

"Hey, Louise?" Derflinger inquired, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not… really," Louise slowly replied, "I'm still processing what happened, so I'd rather we don't speak about it right now."

"I can respect that," Saito added, "But promise you will talk to us once you've had time to process."

"I will, you should know that," the rosecrown indignantly shot back.

"You didn't tell your parents about your troubles at the academy," the Honedge countered.

"I told you that in confidence!" Louise shouted, a crimson flush flashing across her face, but Derflinger continued unabated.

"And I've seen what bottling up emotions can do to people," Derflinger jabbed, "Hell, I've even seen it recently. You remember Elizabeth?"

"What about that thief?" Louise mumbled.

"When she was fighting that Gallade, I got a glimpse into her mind," he began, "and while she's quite the odd duck for someone her age, her driving force is far more familiar."

"Derf, if you're going to talk about her, please just get to the point," Louise impatiently interjected.

"Fine," he said, "From what I saw, she just bottles up her emotions, that's probably why she was so hell-bent on getting a rematch."

"If you think I'm going to become her, you're mistaken," Louise asserted, "Now could we please just move on?"

Saito and Derflinger looked at each other for a moment then back at Louise. The noblewoman was resolute in her desire to move on from the sore subject, and so Saito sighed and waved his hand.

"Fine," Saito said, "Have you opened the package yet?"

"No, I haven't," Louise admitted, placing the parcel on the table, "Do you have a knife I could use to open this?"

"I'll do you one better!" Derflinger exclaimed, quickly slicing through the tape holding the box shut.

"... I guess that works too," Louise murmured as she opened the now unsealed box.

The first thing that caught her eye was her academy brooch. She had lent it to the professor at his request the last time she was in Lumiose, but she hadn't expected him to mail it back to her. Turning it over in her hands, Louise was surprised to find that the back of the brooch had been hollowed out and then filled with a strange, iridescent crystal. Confused, Louise set it aside, trusting that Sycamore had enclosed a letter or something else to explain things. Removing the only other object in the box, a folded piece of paper, Louise opened it under the assumption that that something was written inside. Halfway through, an envelope fell out.

"Saito, hold this for a second," Louise said, handing the paper over to him while she opened the letter.

Fortunately, the envelope wasn't sealed, but before she could read the letter, Saito suddenly exclaimed, "Now I know why she seemed so familiar!"

""Who?"" Louise and Derflinger said at the same time.

"The Duchess of Roses," Saito clarified, turning the now-unfolded poster to show his companions, "She's Elizabeth!"

"What!?" Louise exclaimed, snatching the poster out of Saito's hands, "'Hope to see you there'? And she had the audacity to sign it with a heart!? Who does she think she is? Kirche?"

Louise was fuming. Saito could almost see smoke rising from her ears, but he patted her shoulder to calm her down.

"Louise, calm down," he urged. After a few moments, and a few more steady breaths, and Louise did so. "Have you read the letter yet?"

"Fine, I will," she begrudgingly agreed, then began to read.

"' _Louise,_

' _First off, sorry for the short notice, but Elizabeth wanted me to send something to you, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak._

' _The crystal in your brooch is a Keystone, and while I can't really go into detail here, suffice to say that it should prevent a repeat of the Beedrill incident from happening again._

' _I've enclosed a pair of tickets to Elizabeth's show, my gift, not hers, and I'm going to request that you at least give her the benefit of the doubt. From what I've seen, she really is trying to change._

' _There's more I want to tell you, but that's unfortunately going to have to wait until the next time we speak._

' _Respectfully, Professor Augustine Sycamore'_ "

Louise, finished with the letter, placed it on the table and stared at it. Saito and Derflinger looked at her in turn, and a heavy silence permeated the air between them.

"Well?" Saito asked. "Do you want to go or…?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Louise admitted. "One the one hand, I still don't like her. But, I can't deny that at least she's appearing to try and make amends."

"The match doesn't start till ten," Saito pointed out. "It's only five o'clock now. We got more than enough time to make a decision."

Louise thought it over, then nodded. "Yeah, you're right. We got time, and it's not like we're challenging Grant today."

The two stood up, Louise pocketing the tickets, and headed towards the sliding automatic doors.

"So, what do you want to do for the next five hours?" Saito asked.

"First, going to take a shower," Louise answered as they left the building. "Then, I was thinking about trying out the bike track. I heard it's among the best in the entire—"

Louise was cut off as a large explosion rippled from the interior the city, sending a shockwave out. Saito, instinctively, dove at Louise, throwing the two of them onto the ground. He used his body as a shield as they felt the shockwave wash over them. In a daze, the two got to their feet, hearing sirens and people screaming as something fell from the air all around them. Steadying herself, Louise saw one of the objects land on the ground, and with no small amount of apprehension, she reached down to pick it up. Flipping it over, her heart stopped as she recognized the symbol.

A red, stitched-together flame.

"… Oh, you got to be _shitting me!_ "

[~][~]

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the latest chapter of Outsiders! Yes, Flare is up to their old tricks again, and that last line was very much deliberate. Still, things are coming to a head, especially for the major Flare actions of this season.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **KiroZen:** Yeah, Maindo's attitude will bite him one day. It's what Derflinger was getting at, and Maindo moving past his current attitude is a major component of his character arc. As for the Chapter 21 and 19 references, yes they were deliberate. As for Chapter 12 reminding you of Lancer and Archer, that was a coincidence. I haven't seen any of the Fate series outside of Carnival Phantasm.

 **Celestia's Paladin:** Yeah, had to get in as much of the appropriate Jurassic Park references as they were appropriate to the setting. As for the Gym Battle, as you can see things that will not happen for a few more chapters, both due to Louise's initial training concerns as well as, you know, Flare.

 **Kovaras:** Not at all! I'm glad you liked that part of the chapter. It was a lot of fun for me to write.

That's all for now. See you guys next time!


	47. Season 1, Episode 10, Chapter 3

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 10, Chapter 3**

[~][~]

Janet was starting to get frustrated. Everyone she had called so far had either been out of town, 'too busy' to even bother to consider helping, or already booked up. At this point, she was even considering offering a job to that idol she saw earlier. The girl had at least seemed somewhat competent, if her reactions were anything to go by, and might appreciate the extra work if her situation was as bad as she implied it to be. Still, Janet knew next to nothing about the girl, so that would have to be a last resort.

With a sigh, Janet set down her phone and looked around her office for _anything_ that might distract her from the seemingly endless string of crises her day had become. Inevitably, her eyes fell on her closet. But she hesitated. She had put that part of her life behind her, true, but what harm was there in indulging in nostalgia a little?

Finally making up her mind, Janet stood up and walked toward the closet, the last remnant of hesitance within her eroding away with each step she took. Then, the door was right in front of her, and she threw it open.

Janet hadn't really had the heart to get rid of her old costume when she retired and, if you strip away the pragmatic reasons for keeping around a bunch of Poison types when you run a large, busy arena, she supposed that she kept her old team around for a similar reason. She couldn't help but smile as she saw the old thing hanging there. It had been nearly a decade since her last match, yet her costume still looked the same it had all those years ago.

A lighthearted laugh broke free of her lips as Janet pulled the garment out, moving with the grace of a woman fifteen years younger. The costume most definitely would not fit over her current dress, so off it went. Sure, the coattails might get bent, or the sleeves wrinkled, or the frills in her petticoat might get crushed, but in this moment, she found she couldn't care less. That conductor's dress might have served as the foundation of her image for the past few years, but it had felt constraining for too often for her liking. She could begrudge herself a few hours of freedom, Elizabeth's match wasn't for another four hours after all.

A corset of tattered cloth and fractured Wailord bones slipped over an artfully stained silk bodice; a skirt of rusted chainmail fell over a set of torn and rotten-looking leather tights. The delicate heels Janet had grown so used to found themselves replaced with far sturdier boots wrought from corroded iron, while her metal-phalange gloves gave way, in turn, to ones made of courser cloth and tipped with claws or metal. Her hair might not have been as stringy as it had been during her youth, but it didn't conflict with Scarecrow's image, so it was fine. All that remained, beyond the makeup and moss she usually needed to truly become the Revenant of the Swamps, were her contact lenses…

...which were nowhere to be found. Annoying.

Well, she was also missing her original gas mask, but it had corroded beyond usability a long time ago, so that at least had an excuse. After all, it would only take a minute to put her new mask back on.

Her costume finally in place – well, mostly in place (stupid contact lenses) – Janet couldn't help but feel the urge to just dance around. In some ways, it was almost like she was a child again: begging her parents to purchase costumes for her, not because it was Halloween or one of her friends was having a costume party, but so that she could just spend hours dancing around in it, acting out scenes in her head or just spouting off one-liners. She missed those days.

It was almost surprising how easy it was for her to just slip back into her old persona. Despite not having worn it in years, her old costume still fit like a glove, and not just the gloves, at that. In fact—

A loud bang rang throughout the arena followed shortly by a low rumbling that was almost deafening.

Instinctively crouching low, Janet's eyes nervously flitted around the room as tears began clouding her vision. She could hear someone running down the hall as her gaze finally fell on the pair of Premier Balls still clipped on to her hastily-discarded dress. Mentally cursing herself for leaving it in such an inconvenient spot, she began to slowly crawl over to her dress when the footsteps stopped right outside her door.

Throwing caution to the wind, Janet dove toward the Premier Balls and quickly rolled behind her desk. She remembered storing a brace of smoke canisters in one of the drawers after she ordered more than she could store, but she would need some time to find them.

"Trevenant! Lampent!" she cried, throwing the balls over the wooden barrier, "Give form to my malice!"

"Easy! Easy!" Raven cried out in surprise, "It's me! It's me!"

"Raven!?" Janet screamed back, peaking over her desk, "Why did you kick down my door!?"

"Sorry! Sorry!" Raven shot back, nervously fiddling with the leather straps on her costume, "Everything's gone mad outside and I didn't know if you had locked your door or not."

Janet sighed, glancing quickly at Trevenant and Lampent, both of whom showed no signs of discomfort, then hesitantly moved out from behind the desk. "Go find everyone you can and tell them to meet up in the arena in about ten minutes," she ordered, "running around like headless chickens isn't going to help anyone."

"Got it, ma'am!" Raven replied, running off into the building.

Janet barely suppressed a sigh as she followed suit. It seemed her endless string of crises wasn't over quite yet.

* * *

"Merde!" Louise continued to curse as the chaos unfolded. Saito couldn't help but have his attention divided between the city currently under attack and his suddenly foul-mouthed partner. At least he assumed her to be foul-mouthed. She had switched to her native language a few minutes prior but, given how foul her speech was in Unovan-style Galarian, he assumed she continued to curse to her hearts content.

"Geez, Pinky. You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Derflinger asked, confirming Saito's suspicions. Louise turned and glared at the Honedge, who wisely floated back with his sash raised upward. She took a few more deep breaths before finally calming herself.

"Why is Flare attacking?" she asked.

"I have no idea," Saito responded while he pulled out his Pokéballs, Louise doing the same. "There's nothing here except for mines, quarries, and fish."

"Then what's the target?" Louise asked again. None of this made sense to the young noblewoman. Before, even if she hated it, she could understand why Team Flare would attack their previous targets. The Kalos River Daycare Center had hundreds of eggs from just as many species of Pokémon. They would have made great additions to any criminal army, whether for funds or simple reinforcements. The same could be said for the Ambrette Fossil Museum. Revived Fossil Pokémon, as proven by Shogun just earlier today, were very powerful. Cyllage City had neither of those. The primary attraction, besides the Gym, was its internationally acclaimed bicycle racing track, and she doubted Flare wanted to invest in that.

Even then, their current tactic was entirely out of character. Both the Daycare Siege and the Fossil Heist were, to different extents, covert affairs operating under the dead of night. Both cells did everything they could to keep attention off them during their attacks. Shutting down communications, disabling security systems, overwhelming the guards. Everything they did spoke of a group of nefarious individuals who, ultimately, wanted to get in and out before the law could hammer down on them. Attacking a major metropolitan area was certainly not covert.

Which, again, begged the question: What was Flare doing?

More explosions went off in the distance, far enough away so that neither trainer felt the need to dive for cover. As black smoke rose high into the air, Louise's face became a stoic calm.

"We have to stop them," Louise replied, clutching Brennaraki's Luxury Ball tightly in her hand. She half expected Saito to try and argue against it, given their earlier conversation about this very topic, but instead Saito nodded.

"Agreed," he said. "We can't just sit back and do nothing."

Louise looked at him and nodded back. Then, the two trainers released their Pokémon from their Pokéballs. The Pokémon took one look at the chaos before immediately understanding. Brennaraki, with a mixture of annoyance and exasperation, looked as Auspice questioningly.

" _And why didn't you pick this up?_ " she asked, and Auspice looked at her.

" _It appears I was unable to detect this from inside my Luxury Ball,_ " Auspice stoically admitted. " _I will work on that to ensure this doesn't happen again._ "

" _Yeah, you be sure to do that._ "

Another explosion, this time joined by several screams, prompted Louise and Saito to start running. Around them, they could see civilians running for cover while police and Pokémon Trainers were beginning to mount a defense of the city.

"Move, move, move!" one policeman ordered, waving his arms around in a wide, repeating circle as he ushered people into a nearby Pokémon Center. Beside him was Cyllage City's Officer Jenny, rallying a group of trainers around her. She saw Saito and Louise and immediately ushered them over as well.

"Alright, listen up!" she yelled, catching everyone's attention. "This city is on full lockdown! Team Flare is attacking the city, and they're about to learn just why that was the biggest mistake they've ever made! Am I right?!"

"Yes, ma'am!" the trainers shouted their reply. Saito and Louise couldn't help but join in, and together they ran out into the city among their peers. Police officers, ones that weren't helping to evacuate the populace, were joining them with their Manectrics by their side. The herd they found themselves in was quickly thinning, until before long Louise and Saito once again found themselves alone with Officer Jenny.

"You two been through this before?" she asked, apparently recognizing them.

"Yes," Saito replied. "But this doesn't make sense! Why would they be so brazen right now and attack Cyllage?"

"Your guess is as good as mine!" Jenny admitted. "But right now, our only concern is kicking them out."

"Agreed," Louise replied as they turned a corner. There, they got their first glimpse of Team Flare since the previous night. It was a trio of two men and one woman, telling Louise that they were not the same cell as Ambrette. She still wondered just why that cell was entirely composed of women, outside of its leader, and she felt that the answer would only cause revulsion.

The Grunts, instead of their previous professional demeanor, or what passed as professor for a bunch of terrorists, were simply causing random acts of destruction. They trashed parked cars, destroyed storefronts with Pokémon attacks, and generally acted more like rioters than thieves. When they finally noticed the trainers, the Flare Grunts quickly shifted their attention and ordered their Pokémon to attack.

"Houndour, use Flamethrower!"

"Poocheyena, Dark Pulse!"

"Sneasel, Ice Beam!"

The Grunts ordered their Pokémon to attack, only for them to be met by Louise, Saito, and Jenny's retaliation. The Ice Beam was met by a Brennaraki's Psybeam, the Flamethrower broken apart by Ronin's Water Pulse, and Poocheyena's Dark Pulse was sliced in half by Auspice's Night Slash. The group was soon engulfed in a frantic melee among each other. Pokémon attacks flew wild, the Flare Grunts attempting to maintain their momentum, but they quickly found themselves outmatched.

The Poocheyena attempted to attack Auspice from behind, opening its maw to bite down on her hind leg, only for a glint to appear in the Absol's eye just before the Bite hit. Auspice leaped over the Pokémon, surprising it and leaving it oven to a Slash attack. It struck against the Poocheyena's back, plowing it into the concrete with enough force to form a slight crater. Brennaraki, meanwhile, continued to attack the Sneasel. Having recognized the Dark-type for what it was, Brennaraki switched to her Fire-type attacks. Embers and Fire Spins scorched the ground and nearby walls, which the Sneasel dodged with a confident smirk across its face. It retaliated with a Quick Attack, closing the distance between it and Brennaraki in almost no time at all. Its claw swiped across Brennaraki's face, causing the firefox to recoil back.

" _Why you little-!_ " Brennaraki scowled as she fired an Ember at the Sneasel. It ducked underneath by leaning backward, its back becoming parallel with the ground, before coming back up with a taunting look. It moved to attack once again, only for Aile to suddenly make her appearance by plowing into the Sharp Claw Pokémon with a Flame Charge. The Sneasel, totally off guard, bounced across the street several times before coming to a stop. It tried to raise itself off the ground, only for Brennaraki to engulf it in a massive Fire Spin. It howled in pain as it flailed out of the fiery vortex, only to be put out of its misery by a single Ember from Brennaraki. As it fell, the Fennekin looked at Aile with a slightly annoyed glare.

" _What?_ " Aile asked.

"… _I had it handled,_ " Brennaraki declared with a huff, but the Fletchinder merely rolled her eyes.

"Sure _you did. All I did was loosen Sneasel up for you._ "

" _Yes, that's exactly what you did._ "

On the other side of the street, Ronin engaged in battle against the Houndour. Here, the Water-type Pokémon was in his element. Each attack from the Houndour, from a hot Flamethrower to an unnaturally cold Dark Pulse, Ronin broke it apart with ease. Fire met Water, Dark met scalchop. The Oshawatt was so pleased with his performance that he couldn't help but smirk. The Houndour saw this and roared angrily as it charged. Ronin met the charge head-on, sliding underneath the Houndour's belly while slicing it with a Razor Shell. The Fire/Dark-type roared in pain as it crashed, but Ronin refused to allow it a chance to recover. He rocketed forward with an Aqua Jet, his body enveloped in a cone of water, and slammed into the recovering Pokémon. The momentum carried it across the street and the two of them slammed into a parked car, denting the door and shattering glass. The Houndour, having taken the brunt of the impact, slumped to the ground in defeat while Ronin holstered his scalchop triumphantly.

" _The villain had no chance,_ " he declared just as he turned to see Officer Jenny directing her Manectric to envelop the trio of criminals in a Thunder Wave. Their bodies spasmed and fell to the ground, completely paralyzed, but the police officer was upon them immediately.

"You are under arrest!" she declared as she handcuffed them to a nearby pole. The criminals didn't speak, because of their bodies not responding, but Louise figured it was probably for the best. They likely didn't have much to say anyway.

"What do you want us to do?" Louise asked, hoping to help however she could.

"Keep going!" Jenny ordered. "Find as many members of Team Flare as you can and stop them. I'm going to make sure these guys don't try to take off!"

Louise and Saito nodded at the officer's command then immediately turned around to run down the street. Around them, they could hear the battle for the city ensue, and they could tell it was in complete chaos.

"This is like the Daycare, only ten time worse," Saito muttered. Louise wasn't sure if she quite agreed with the number, but she did with his general sentiment. Still, she remained quiet as she focused on the task at hand before they finally came across an intersection to a single street. The road here split, going in opposite directions, and they wondered which way to go. They heard an explosion coming from the east-bound side and turned to run towards it, only to hear another coming from the west. For a moment, the trainers stood still as they wondered which direction to go before Saito steeled his face and turned towards Louise.

"You take east, I'll take west," he said, and Louise nodded. The two trainers then split apart, running towards their respective dangers, hoping that they could help in any way they could.

* * *

Elizabeth was getting antsy. She had just finished getting her stage makeup applied when a shockwave rolled its way through the building. She was more than a little irritated when her attempt to figure out what had happened was met with little more than a command to go to the arena and wait for Janet. Well, she had been waiting for almost fifteen minutes now and if she had to wait any longer, she might just take off on her own. A few of the others looked like they wanted to do the same thing. Before she could act on those feelings, however, the verdette's musings were cut off when the very woman she had been grousing about ran into the room, Diego following close behind her.

"Any luck?" she shouted at a group of techs as she skidded to an awkward stop.

"None, really," one replied, looking up from the radios he was messing with, "Every standard station I can tune in to is garbled beyond meaning, and I'm sure our attempts at catching the news on TV are pretty self-evident." He motioned to one of the jumbotrons as it cycled through channel after channel of stuttering, pixelated imaged and indecipherable sound.

"No luck with the phones, either," another tech spoke up, "The landline didn't even have a dial tone and none of my calls or texts are going through."

Elizabeth growled. This was the exact same tactic Team Flare had used back at the Daycare, only now applied to an entire city, and the fact that she had to live through it again, on the night of her big debut, infuriated her to no end.

"You know," Raven pointed out with an extended finger, "for a group that's supposedly in its death throes, the local Flare cell seems scarily competent."

"What do you mean by that?" Elizabeth cut in, "Didn't you say they were just attacking things randomly?"

"Well, if you call targeting the police stations first 'attacking randomly' then I guess you're right," the radio operator quipped.

"Wait, what?" Elizabeth queried in surprise, "I thought you said you weren't having any luck figuring out what's going on."

"Well, I did say that, but before the amateur frequencies all got jammed I noticed they were playing host to a whole lot of police-related chatter."

"And your point is...?" Elizabeth shot back, growing more irritated by the second.

"Well—"

"Hey! Hey! I think I've got a clear signal!" one of the techs shouted as the image on the jumbotron resolved itself into a nervous-looking girl standing on a stage.

" _Uhhh… S-sorry for the interruption, we should be able to continue in a moment,"_ she said, nervously glancing at something off-screen, _"Are we ready? Okay, let's start!"_

"This isn't helpful," Janet said as the idol fumbled her entrance and hurriedly motioned for her band to start over, "What else can we get?"

"Uhh…. Nothing...?" the tech sheepishly replied, "She's on every channel somehow."

"She's on the radio frequencies as well," the radio operator added, "You think this is Flare's doing?"

Elizabeth turned and walked out of the room, red slowly shifting to green. She didn't need to hear the rest, after all. Janet would want everyone to hunker down while Cyllage's police force dealt with Flare, but the verdette wasn't going to just sit idle. Sure, that kind of thinking had bitten her in the past and nearly gotten her killed twice, as far as she remembered.

" _I had a nightmare last night."_

The verdette clutched her head in pain as red slowly bled back into her eyes and darkened to their normal shade of maroon. She winced, wiping blood from her lips as her tongue ran over the prosthesis attached to her canines. Those things were supposed to be just for show, why were they so sharp?

"Hey…" a voice said, pulling Elizabeth out of her thoughts, "Where are you going?"

Surprised, the verdette turned to face the newcomer. "Erina?" she said in shock, "That's your costume?"

"First off, yes," Erina calmly replied, tipping her bycocket in a mock salute, "second, you didn't really answer the question."

"You look like you just stepped out of one of those Galarian Fletchling Hood stories," Elizabeth continued, seemingly ignoring the second part of Erina's statement.

"Yes, I get that, but where are you going?" Erina asked again, "Janet wants us all to stay in the arena."

"Fine," Elizabeth said, "I'm going to beat up that Flare girl who's pretending to be some idol."

"Are you sure about that, Elizabeth?" Raven asked as she walked down the hallway towards them. Elizabeth was surprised by Raven's look of confusion. It seemed like Raven _believed_ the girl was innocent.

"What do you mean by that?" Elizabeth pressed, hoping Raven would see through the facade.

"All I'm saying is that I don't think that girl's Flare," Raven confidently stated, "Either that or she's a damn good actor."

"Are you serious? It's obvious that she's with Flare," Elizabeth growled, splotches of green slowly spreading across her eyes.

"I'm not saying that Flare isn't using her as a distraction, but I don't think she's continuing to sing of her free will," Raven clarified, "She looked like she was legitimately scared for her life, is all I'm saying."

Elizabeth stared at her for a moment before sighing and pinching her brow. She didn't have time for this.

"That doesn't change anything, apart from not punching her," the verdette said, the patches of green fading back into red, "I'm still going to stop that broadcast."

"Count me in, then," Raven declared, putting on her helmet.

"I'm coming too," Erina said in turn.

"W-well, okay then," Elizabeth stuttered out, somewhat shocked by the positive response, "Let's go!"

* * *

"Water Pulse! Force Palm! Shadow Ball! Bullet Seed!" Saito ordered his Pokémon to attack a lone Grunt he had come across. The criminal had just beaten a pair of trainers senseless and were preparing to rob them blind when Saito and his team caught them completely off guard. The attacks slammed into his Pokémon, knocking them out almost instantly while Derflinger whipped out and stuck them with this sheath. With the Flare Grunt incapacitated, Saito quickly tied them up with some of his climbing rope while handing the defeated trainers some medicine.

"Th-Thank you!" one of them said, a young boy no older than ten. Saito frowned deeply, knowing that this kid was far too young to even attempt trying to interfere with this.

"Take your Pokémon and get to the Pokémon Center," he gently ordered.

"But we want to help!" a young girl with red hair insisted, but Saito shook his head.

"You can by protecting the Pokémon Center from the bad guys, alright?" Saito suggested. "We need big, strong trainers like you guys to keep everyone hiding in there safe while us big trainers take the fight to Flare."

"We're big, too!" the boy proclaimed.

"I know, which is why I want you guys to protect the others. I can only trust the biggest people I can think of for such a task."

The two young trainers took a moment to acknowledge Saito's words, and when they finally registered they began to beam jubilantly. Excitedly, they ran off towards the nearest Pokémon Center, leaving Saito behind. The seventeen-year-old couldn't help but smile at their dedication to keeping their city safe, only to hear a groan come from his feet. Looking down, he frowned once again at the stirring Flare Grunt. He, and the rest of his squad, was tied up to a lamppost tightly, the tick ropes constricting him from any moment. It would be impossible for him or the others to escape on their own.

Saito kicked him in the gut before moving on.

"Bunch of kids…" he growled as he continued to search the city for signs of battle. Derflinger said nothing but floated behind him, internally agreeing with Saito's action. He, himself, had made sure to hit them extra hard for their audacity. Still, although the Honedge admired the kids for their bravery, he couldn't help but note it was highly misplaced. They should not have been out here, facing off against criminals who were more than willing to cause them harm.

Another trainer, cradling her injured Growlith in her arms, ran past the group, prompting them to turn sharply and face a pair of Grunts confidently marching towards them.

"Well, well, well! What do we-?" one of them began, but Saito wasn't having it.

"Shadow Ball."

Maindo's Ghost-type attack immediately launched towards the Grunt, causing her to dive to the ground. The ball soared past where her head was just moments ago, and she felt a trickle of sweat go down her brow.

"What the heck, you psychopath?!" her partner admonished an unfazed Saito. "You could've hurt her!"

"Coming from the guy who has plunged an entire city into chaos. For no reason at all," Saito shot back while slowly striding forward. The Grunts tentatively stepped back, recognizing that this trainer wasn't like the others they had easily beaten back so far.

"You want to know something? I've dealt with you guys three times now. First, the Daycare. Then, the Fossil Museum. And now, this." Saito gestured around himself while the Grunts' faces paled. They recognized those cities, or more specifically the failed missions that had occurred there. Each one was foiled by a pair of trainers. If what this teenager was telling the truth, they suddenly had a very big problem on their hands.

"We-Well, that doesn't matter!" the female Grunt declared defiantly. "We have united dozens of cells just for this operation! We outnumber you ten to one!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yes! Cells from all over the Kalos Region, all combining to reform Flare into an even stronger team! One not burdened by failure!"

"Uh-uh. How's that working out for you?"

Rather than respond to Saito's obvious sarcasm, the Flare Grunt shouted and directed her Skorupi to attack. Her partner responded in kind, ordering his Houndour to attack with Flamethrower. Ronin immediately countered the Fire-type attack with a Water Pulse, dousing the flame and turning the water into steam. Tanuki shot forward, striking the Houndour's snout with a Force Palm and sending it flying back into a nearby shop's wall.

"Houndour!" the Grunt shouted, then angrily turned to face Saito. He pulled out another Pokéball and released the Zubat held within. The Bat Pokémon screeched wildly, flapping around as it emitted a high-pitched sonic wave. The Super Sonic rattled Tanuki's head, causing him to clutch it in pain and he began to wobble and sway on his feet.

"Grr…" Saito frowned then pointed at the Zubat. "Maindo, use Confusion on Zubat!"

Maindo grinned wickedly as he psychically assaulted the Zubat's mind. It screeched in pain, its movements become more erratic as it struggled to stay in the air. Taking advantage of its current state, Tengu fired a barrage of Bullet Seeds into its body. The Grass-type attack didn't do much, but it was enough to keep it distracted long enough for Tanuki to regain control of his senses. Now angered, he thrust his hands in front of him and charged up a Meteor Mash, sending the Steel-type attack hurtling into the Zubat and knocking it into the ground with a cloud of dust. When the dust settled, the Pokémon was out for the count.

Meanwhile, Shogun brawled with the Skorupi. The Bug and Poison-type Pokémon was having an issue dealing with the larger Rock-type, but it attempted to use its venomous fangs to debilitate its opponent. Shogun wasn't having it, recognizing the fangs for what they were, and always made sure to keep them away from him. He used Bite on its tail, using it as leverage to twirl the Pokémon around in a large circle before hurling it away. The Skorupi crashed into the ground, which Shogun followed up with a Tackle. He bowled over his enemy, causing the Skorupi to roll like a ragdoll before it managed to find its footing.

Annoyed, the Skorupi fired a Pin Missile from its tail, a few managing to strike against Shogun's scaly hide. The Tyrunt grunted in slight pain before strafing around them, the projectiles following his every movement. When another struck him in the snout, he roared angrily before changing course and charging at Skorupi. It began to panic, backing way while continuing to fire the Pin Missile, but Shogun merely charged through them. He then jumped high above Skorupi, descending to deliver a painful Stomp to its back. Its breath was quickly ejected from its tiny lungs. Skorupi, in a daze, looked up at Shogun, who himself was staring deep into its eyes. He then Roared with such ferocity that Skorupi felt very afraid, and before its trainer could even blink, it had promptly returned itself to its Pokéball.

"Wha?" the Grunt wondered, looking at the ball clipped to his belt and leaving himself open to a sucker punch from Saito. He spun around in a daze before falling onto his back, while his partner shouted in anger. She moved to attack him, only for Tengu to trip her with a Grass Knot. More grass grew from the concrete to envelop her and her partner, and she futilely struggled to escape her bonds.

"Let me go!" she demanded, but Saito merely shook his head.

"I don't think so. In fact," he kneeled next to her head, "you're going to answer a few questions from me. And don't lie to me, Tanuki and Maindo will tell if you do."

The Riolu and the Ralts smiled and nodded, confirming Saito's threat, and the woman snarled while continuing to try and free herself. Finally, she recognized the situation she was in, and sighed.

"What do you want to know?"

"Just one thing: Why? Why are you attacking Cyllage? There's nothing here."

"I don't know. They didn't tell us," she admitted. "All I know was that my cell was taken over a few days ago by some guy calling himself Maxwell Fletcher. Then, after he kicked my admin's butt, he's having us pack up, leave our base, and hightail it over here to cause some mayhem. He called it 'Operation Flash Mob.' Tsk, guy didn't even come with us…"

Saito and Derflinger looked at each other with a sideways glance. They then looked at Tanuki and Maindo, who nodded. Saito looked back down at the Flare Grunt, slightly surprised that she was telling the truth. At the same time, he was a little disappointed that she couldn't answer anything else. Still, he got what he wanted.

"Alright, let's go," he ordered, his Pokémon following behind him. The Flare Grunt shouted indignantly at him leaving her in such a compromising position, but Saito honestly didn't care. What he did care about, however, was what this 'Operation Flash Mob' really entailed. There were many criminal organizations around the world, most defunct but a few still kicking. Team Rocket chief among them, and he could see those gangsters holding a city hostage for ransom. But this didn't feel like they were aiming to hold the city hostage. This was just mindless chaos. He might have simply dismissed it as that, but the fact that Team Flare had the audacity to call this an actual operation mean that this chaos had a point to it.

He just couldn't figure out what it was.

* * *

"Hey, Ghiaccio, was there a Ren Faire today that I didn't know about?" Mista smirked as he stared down the new arrivals.

"Not that I know of," Ghiaccio snidely replied.

"Hey, at least we're not a bunch of fashion disasters like you are!" the armored woman shouted at them.

"Yeah!" the silver-haired one cut in, "I thought all Flare grunts wore red, not blue!"

"At least we have _some_ fashion sense, harlequin!" Ghiaccio shouted.

"Finally, someone gets it!" the silver-haired woman exclaimed, much to the Flare grunts' confusion.

""What?"" Mista and the armored woman said in unison.

"I'll explain later, Raven," the other replied with an annoyed sigh.

"I'll be holding you to that, Erina," the newly-identified Raven said, "Now, would you kindly step aside so we can spare you the trouble of getting beat up, or…"

"Not a chance!" Ghiaccio declared.

"Well, don't say we didn't warn you," Erina said ominously as the pair reached behind themselves and each pulled out a white cape with a red, stylized 'R' in its center from literally nowhere.

Ghiaccio immediately began reaching for one of his Pokéballs, but Mista held out a hand to stop him. "I want to see how this plays out," he said.

"To protect the world from devastation!" Erina cried, striking a dramatic pose.

"To unite all peoples within our nation!" Raven shouted in response, doing the same.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Erina!"

"Raven!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!" Raven and Erina finished with a dramatic flush, moving their arms and legs around to form an R. For the life of them, neither Flare grunt could quite wrap their heads around why these two trainers would take the time to do such a 'motto', or why anyone would for that matter. They did find it humorous, however.

"You know, now I see why you made me wait," Ghiaccio muttered, a poleaxed expression spread across his continence.

"Aegislash! Show them oblivion!" Raven cried.

"Hawlucha! Soar above all!" Erina declared.

"Well, if that's how it's going to be… Come on out, Numbers!" Mista shouted, throwing out all six of his Pokéballs at once. They broke open, revealing six Clawitzers.

"Cryogonal!" Ghiaccio shouted, bringing out one of his own Pokémon.

"All six at once, eh?" Raven quipped, "Your friend might be an ice guy, but it seems you have confidence issues."

"At least we don't get beat up by children half our age on a regular basis," Mista countered.

"Talk is cheap," Erina growled, Ghiaccio's comment obviously having gotten under her skin, "Hawlucha, Hone Claws, Sky Drop!"

"Aegislash!" Raven cried, "Swords Dance, Sacred Sword! Hit the rest!"

""Avoid it!"" Ghiaccio and Mista shouted in unison.

Hawlucha made a beeline for Cryogonal, who was just a hair too slow to avoid the attack and was dragged upwards by the Wrestling Pokémon. Mista's Clawitzers fared better, as all but one of them was able to avoid Aegislash's wide sweep.

"Numbers! Water Pulse! Don't let up!" Mista shouted.

On cue, all six Clawitzers began gathering energy in their oversized claws and fired. Immediately sensing the danger it was in, Aegislash retreated behind her shield and quickly erected a barrier with King's Shield, just in time to block the first volley. Mista grit his teeth as his team's attack splashed off harmlessly. He _hated_ fighting Pokémon with moves like that, but at least it wasn't Spiky Shield.

"A little help would be nice, Ghiaccio," he muttered.

"Right, right," his partner said as he reluctantly looked away from the increasingly-distant speck Cryogonal and Hawlucha had become, "Glaceon, Froslass, let's show them what they get for messing with us!"

"Bringing out more already?" Erina asked, "Guess I'll do the same! Empoleon! Xatu!"

"A Xatu? Really?" Ghiaccio heckled.

The Mystic Pokémon slowly turned to face the blue-haired man, his eyes glowing pink as he did so. _'I have already foreseen your failure. This battle is a foregone conclusion,'_ he ominously stated.

"Fat chance, weirdo," Mista shouted, "Numbers 3, 6, 7! Dark Pulse!"

Xatu only looked insufferably smug as Empoleon stepped in front of it, eating the damage as she charged up a Bide. Seeing an opening, Aegislash fired off a trio of Shock Waves, targeting the three Clawitzers still focused on her. Unprepared for the sudden attack, the Clawitzers all winced in pain as the wave of electricity washed over them.

"Just what I was waiting for!" Ghiaccio declared, motioning for his team to attack. Glaceon and Froslass struck Aegislash with Ice Beams and, much to Raven's horror, froze the Royal Sword solid. Grinning evilly, Froslass followed up with a Hex powerful enough to send the frozen Pokémon flying backwards.

"Aegislash!" Raven cried out.

"Just like I thought," Mista smirked, "All talk, no real strength to back it up."

Growling in anger, Raven recalled Aegislash and pulled out another pair of balls. "Bisharp! Scizor! Avenge her!"

"You don't stand a chance!" Ghiaccio screamed, "Avalanche! Bury them!"

"Empoleon!" Erina shouted at the same time.

Leaping into action, Empoleon shoved Raven's team out of the way, bearing the brunt of both attacks before releasing the Bide she had been charging at Glaceon, only for a pink barrier to spring up in front of the Fresh Snow Pokémon. Undeterred, Empoleon smashed through the obstruction and struck her target, but the Barrier had done its job. Ghiaccio grimaced as he watched Glaceon slowly struggle to his feet, and his expression only deepened when Hawlucha finally came back down. The Wrestling Pokémon slammed Cryogonal into the ground and had the _audacity_ to smirk as he threw it at the blue-haired man. Fortunately, Cryogonal managed to correct its flight, but Ghiaccio was still angry.

"Mista," he ground out, "Take care of the wannabe knight. The harlequin is mine."

Mista only nodded in response as his team moved to focus on the Steel types, but Erina was far more talkative.

"Oh? You're taking me on alone?" the silver-haired woman sneered, "Didn't you see how badly I was beating you with Raven as a handicap?"

"A little frost on the wings will stop any bird," Ghiaccio quipped back, "Besides, I can't beat you up very well if Mista's just going to steal my thunder, can I?"

"Very well," Erina said, stifling a chuckle, "Make your move."

Ghiaccio allowed himself to smile as he narrowed his eyes. Unlike Mista, he didn't put much stock in superstitions, but he had fought enough physics in the past to know that their abilities were no joke. Sure, that Xatu might have foreseen his defeat, but those predictions were far from immutable, his fight against a physic calling himself "Vinegar" had taught him that much. Still, his position wasn't the best. Two members of his team were already exhausted from all the fighting they had done today, and the terrain was ill-suited for White Album. Still, it didn't look like Erina had any Ice types on her team. The blue-haired man barely suppressed a chuckle as a plan formed in his mind.

"Cryogonal, Hail! Glaceon, Aurora Veil!" Ghiaccio ordered with a smirk. That should help whittle down these Team Rocket screwups while mitigating the effects it would have on Mista, but might as well make it easier on himself. "Froslass, use Captivate on Xatu!"

Erina just smirked. Even as dark clouds gathered overhead, and her opponents shrouded themselves in iridescent light, she just smirked.

"You just made a big mistake," she said and snapped her fingers.

Froslass recoiled in pain as something hit her from out of nowhere as Empoleon cloaked herself in water and launched forwards.

"Froslass, Glaceon! Avoid it!" Ghiaccio yelled.

"I never said I was aiming for you," Erina smirked.

Ghiaccio's eyes widened in realization as Empoleon swerved into Mista's team, throwing them into disarray.

"Well, I'd say it was fun, but—" Erina began, quickly recalling Hawlucha and Empoleon.

"Froslass! Freeze them solid!" Ghiaccio cut in. They weren't going to get away if he had anything to say about it.

Erina yelped in shock and immediately dove towards Raven as Xatu hurriedly covered the area in a black Haze. Froslass dove in after them. Seconds later, the Haze cleared, revealing Raven, frozen solid, but Erina was nowhere to be found.

"DAMMIT, WHERE'D SHE GO!?" Ghiaccio yelled.

"Teleported, most likely," Mista stated, "But we have her friend. She'll be back."

" _Ergh…_ Back to waiting, I guess," Ghiaccio grumbled.

"I guess," Mista concurred, "Would you mind helping me move her?"

* * *

Louise ran through the Cyllage streets, her Pokémon matching her step for step. The riot had been going on for at least an hour, and already she had dealt with nearly a dozen Flare grunts.

"Fireball!" she casted at a Flare grunt she spotted in the corner of her eye, knocking him back into unconsciousness. She added him to her mental tally, now reaching a dozen Grunts, but continued along. Aile was flying overhead, directing the group towards any criminals she could see while keeping an eye for anyone that looked to be the leader of the group. If there was anything Louise had learned from her past endeavors against Team Flare, it was that an operation hinged on its leader. If she or another trainer managed to take him or her out, the entire cell would fall apart. As such, her focus was on finding whomever this leader was.

Her secondary objective was finding out who was blasting that Founder-damned music all over the radios and intercoms across the city. No matter where she went, the music kept playing, and it was driving her insane.

"I swear, when I find her…" Louise growled as she rounded another corner. Espirit, perched on her shoulder, gently patted the side of Louise's head.

' _There, there,_ ' the Kirlia soothed her trainer. ' _Maybe if we're lucky, the singer works for Flare and we can justify our discussion with her._ '

" _Are you seriously suggesting beating her up?_ " Brennaraki asked, not expected that response from the kind Espirit.

" _Only if she's Flare,_ " Espirit clarified, tilting her head and smiling gently. " _Otherwise, I say we have a long and due discussion with her on the time and place for musical entertainment._ "

" _I'm down for that,_ " Aile responded from high above. " _Also, found another group! Two blocks ahead!_ "

Espirit quickly translated Aile's message to Louise, and the noblewoman nodded before directing both Aile and Auspice to run ahead. The two Pokémon acted accordingly, racing down the street towards their objective. Louise, Brennaraki, and Espirit followed along at a quick pace.

The three heard the battle before they saw it. When they finally arrived at the battle site, they saw Aile and Auspice expertly dueling against a trio of orange-clad Flare Grunts. Their outfit, like so many of the other Grunts she had come across, was not like the ones she had met before. These outfits appeared to be rougher, with obvious stitches and patches splotching the suits. Even their glasses were slightly cracked, and she didn't think those came over the course of the current battle. The damage looked too old for that. These three obviously came from a different cell, one that wasn't as well-equipped as the other ones.

The fact that most of the Grunts she had come across had different uniforms told her that there were many cells coordinating on this one endeavor, a thought that troubled her greatly. Still, she couldn't focus on that as one of the Grunts spotted her.

"There's the trainer!" the Grunt, a woman with green hair, shouted and pointed towards Louise. "Golbat, use Poison Fang!"

The Golbat screeched and broke away from the battle, flying towards Louise as its maw opened wide. Its fangs pulsed purple as Poison-type energy coursed through them, but before it could even attempt to sink them into Louise, Espirit launched it out of the way with Psychic. Golbat crashed into the pavement, only for Espirit to blast it with Disarming Voice. The Bat Pokémon screeched as it hastily tried to cover its ears, meanwhile Espirit hopped off Louise's shoulder and calmly marched towards her opponent.

' _I'm sorry, did you just try to hurt my trainer?_ ' Espirit politely asked in a sickeningly sweet tone, her voice barely masking the venom it held. Growling angrily, the Golbat flew up over her and screeched out a Supersonic attack, which Espirit deftly teleported away from with a loud pop. Golbat circled around, trying to find her, only to hear Espirit's voice echo in its mind.

' _That wasn't very nice…_ ' Espirit warned before blasting it with Psychic once again. As she dueled with the Flying/Poison-type Pokémon, Aile engaged in a brawl against small vulture-like Pokémon. Aile was attacking it from the air, while the vulture was retaliating from the ground. Not recognizing it, Louise quickly pulled out her Pokédex and scanned it as Auspice blocked a strike from a Houndoom aimed at her.

" _Vullaby, the Diapered Pokémon. A monogendered female species, Vullaby's wings are too small to allow for flight, leaving it grounded. They are known to chase after weaker creatures, and their distinctive diaper is made of bones gathered by their Mandibuzz parent. Once they are nearing their evolution, they will shed their diaper entirely,_ " the Pokédex revealed just as the Vullaby jumped and attacked a passing Aile with Feint Attack. Aile grunted, momentarily wobbling, but the Fletchinder was able to retain her composure and banked away. Louise eyed the Pokémon and quickly came up with a strategy to take it down as quickly as possible.

"Aile, keep attacking it from range!" Louise ordered, knowing that the Vullaby had no way to strike back. Nodding her head, Aile flew up high out of Vullaby's reach, then began to bombard it with a barrage of Razor Winds. The Vullaby scampered away, trying to dodge Aile's attacks, but its short legs didn't get it far before the first attack struck. It was blasted away numerous times with the successive slices of compressed air, each attack bouncing it away only to hit another. A cloud of brown dust formed around the impact site, and only when Louise sharply raised her hand did Aile cease. They waited for the smoke to clear, and once it did they saw it laying sprawled across the ground.

Smiling to herself, Louise ordered Aile to assist Brennaraki, who was fighting off two Skorupis at once. The Fennekin wasn't having much issue against the Bug-type Pokémon, easily keeping them at bay with her Fire-type attacks, but Louise did want to risk her getting poisoned again. Wrapping her body in fire, Aile descended with a Flame Charge, slamming into a surprised Skorupi and sending it flying into an aluminum trashcan. It crumpled under the impact, and as the Skorupi tried to push itself off the ground, Brennaraki set it alight with an Ember. The Skorupi flailed before finally going still. Moments later, the other Skorupi joined it as Brennaraki attacked it with a Flame Charge, the Fennekin finishing it off easily.

" _You're welcome,_ " Aile mentioned, and Brennaraki huffed before moving on to their last opponents. Aile chirped happily before moving on as well. The two Fire-types saw Espirit thrashing around a frantic Golbat. It was a completely one-sided battle in favor of the Kirlia, who always kept her serene smile. Both Pokémon found it to be unnerving, and so they moved their attention towards Auspice.

Auspice was currently facing off against a Houndoom, the Fire/Dark-type attacking Auspice with a brutal display of might. In a testament to her skill, however, Auspice was dancing around the Houndoom easily, using generous amounts of Detect to dodge her opponents attacks at the last second. As she dodged a Fire Fang attack, Auspice retaliated with a Slash into Houndoom's back, sending it crashing onto the pavement. As it picked itself up, Auspice used Slash again, this time hitting Houndoom's face. The Dark Pokémon growled as it faced a stoic Auspice and tried to bite her, only for Auspice to gracefully leap backwards away from the crushing maw. As she landed, she fired a Razor Wind towards the Houndoom, the blow making it flinch upon contact.

Now thoroughly enraged, the Houndoom roared as it charged at Auspice, firing a Flamethrower at the same time. Auspice ran to the side, the jet of flame following her and setting the ground alight. When she reached a light pole, Auspice jumped towards it with her paws outstretched, rebounded, and lunged at a still turning Houndoom. The two collapsed a heap before quickly engaging in a brutal brawl. It was here that Auspice was at her prime, easily dominating the smaller Houndoom with repeated slashes of her head-blade. Each blow sent the Houndoom reeling, and it tried to pry her off with its front paws while charging up a Flamethrower. Just as the attack prepared to fire, Auspice sent a Razor Wind into it, creating a small blowback that scorched the inside of Houndoom's throat. It coughed and sputtered, leaving itself open for Auspice to finish it off with a Swords Dance-boosted Slash.

The Houndoom collapsed in a heap, thoroughly unconscious. A moment later, an unconscious Golbat was hurled into its body by a satisfied Espirit, and Louise smiled at herself. She then turned to face the trio of Flare Grunts, who were being held at bay by a smoking and growling Brennaraki.

"Espirit, if you please?" Louise asked, and Espirit nodded before concentrating at the Grunts. A moment later, she emitted a Hypnosis onto each of them, lulling the criminals into a deep sleep. With them now incapacitated, Louise pulled out a few feet of rope and began tying them up, thankful for Derflinger's instruction on how to tie a proper knot. She then felt an ache enter her legs, and a quick look among her Pokémon told her they felt the same thing.

"Alright everyone, lets take a short rest," she said, and her Pokémon sighed as they sat down. Rather than join them, Louise continued to rummage through the Flare Grunts' belongings, hoping to find evidence towards what their objective was. Unfortunately, she found nothing more than an assortment of cheap medicine and nothing more.

"Damn," Louise spat as she stood up and walked away. She was trying to wrap her head around just why Flare would attack. These Grunts were lightly equipped, likely indicating that this was akin to a smash-and-grab. They weren't expected to be here for very long. But what objective could there be found in causing a riot in a major city? That Team Flare, despite recent setbacks, was still alive and well? Such a subjective message did not resonate with her, given their previous concrete goals.

"What are they planning?" she wondered, pacing back and forth, only to hear rapid footsteps heading her way. Tensing, Louise turned to face the sound's source, her Pokémon bracing themselves as well, only for the strangest looking woman to run in. The woman paused upon seeing Louise, allowing the noblewoman to get a good look at her.

"Wait a second… Elizabeth?" Louise asked, and the woman sighed and nodded.

"Yes…" Elizabeth confirmed.

"What in the Founder's name are you wearing?"

"It's my uniform," Elizabeth admitted with a soft glare. "I was already changed when Flare attacked, and I didn't have time to change back."

"I don't think I've ever seen you wearing something not frilly and high class before. And what's with the swords?"

"Considering how you carry yourself, I thought you'd be into this kind of thing, Li- Louise," Elizabeth caught herself, casually resting her palm on the hilt of her longsword. "Besides, I like the swords, they're kinda familiar."

"Seriously, you look like you came out of a Gothic horror novel."

"That was the point! Can we please not talk about my costume right now? It's annoying enough to run around in this as it is, and I don't need your mocking on top of it!"

Louise winced and rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry…"

Elizabeth stared at Louise for a moment, then sighed. "It's alright. I take it both you and Saito got caught up in this?"

"Literally ten minutes after we arrived. Not to mention less than a day after we _already_ foiled a Flare heist in Ambrette Town."

"That was you? It was all over the news this morning."

Louise nodded. "Yes. They tried to steal some fossils and rejuvenation equipment from the Fossil Museum. We were roped in because Saito found a fossilized jawbone of a Tyrunt capable of being revived, and that night we saw Auspice here hanging out in the city."

Louise pointed to the Absol. "Speaking of which, meet Auspice. She's the Absol Saito and Derflinger saw at the Daycare."

Elizabeth winced at the memory. The injuries she had obtained during that terrorist attack were extensive, and she nearly died for the second time in her life. Apparently, Louise had even donated some of her blood to keep her alive, and she didn't quite know what to make of that. Still, that Absol appearing when it did saved her life, so she might as well kill two Flying-types with one stone.

"Speaking of which, thank you both for—"

"Don't mention it. I only did what a noblewoman is expected to do," Louise interrupted Elizabeth, surprising the heiress with her conviction. She wanted to press on, but another explosion caught both of their attentions.

"They just don't stop…" Elizabeth whispered, and Louise's expression steeled.

"Alright, rest breaks over!" Louise ordered. At once, her Pokémon jumped to her feet, surprising Elizabeth on just how responsive they were. She could never get her Pokémon to answer to her as quickly as Louise just did. They began to move towards the explosion, only for Elizabeth to snap herself out of her stupor and run in front of them.

"Wait, wait!" she began, halting Louise's advance. An annoyed expression crossed the noblewoman's face, and Louise stared Elizabeth down.

"What is it?" Louise asked. "I don't have time to just stand around and do nothing."

"I need your help!" Elizabeth revealed. Louise arched an eyebrow at her but allowed Elizabeth to continue. "It's my coworkers, Raven and Erina. At my suggestion, we went to go and stop that stupid broadcast—"

"A noble goal."

"Thank you. Anyway, Raven and Erina thought that the singer was being coerced by Flare into keeping up her concert, which is so false I can't even fully describe."

"Are you saying that the singer is working for Flare?" Louise asked, and Elizabeth nodded.

' _Yes!_ ' Espirit cheered, causing both trainers to look at her strangely. Espirit coughed, then smiled cutely. ' _Sorry, got carried away…_ '

Louise and Elizabeth stared at Espirit for a moment, then turned their attentions back towards each other. Another explosion sounded off, causing Louise to clench her fists.

"Get to the point, please. We're wasting time," Louise demanded, and Elizabeth nodded.

"I ended up getting lost from the two of them, and they kept going to the open-air plaza. Only Erina came back, and her Pokémon were too injured to continue fighting. Right now, I'm fearing the worst for Raven and I think she's been captured."

Louise her lip and winced. She didn't want to think about what would happen to one of Flare's captives, but at the same time she focused on Elizabeth's words. She said that they went to stop the broadcast at her suggestion. Suddenly, Louise saw a new look on Elizabeth's face. Beyond the anger and the fear, it was something she hadn't seen yet in her: guilt. Elizabeth was feeling a tremendous amount of guilt over someone she knew possibly getting captured because of her.

Louise made up her mind in an instant, pulling out her Pokédex and flipping to its map function.

"The quickest route to the plaza is this way," Louise declared as she began fast walking away. Surprised at how quickly Louise came to a decision, Elizabeth caught up to her.

"Are your Pokémon injured?" Louise asked, fishing out a few Full Restores and handing them to Elizabeth.

"A little, but too bad. Thank you," Elizabeth replied, refusing the offered medicine. Nodding at her response, Louise pocketed the medicine and the two continued making their way towards the plaza. Around them, they continued to hear explosions but forced themselves to keep pressing forward. They had a more urgent matter to attend to.

"Louise… Thank you."

"Thank me after we rescue your friend. Then, you and I are going to have a nice conversation on appropriate battle attire."

"Oh, will you just-!"

[~][~]

Hello, everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of Outsiders! Things are progressing, and now we have a team up between Louise and Elizabeth to rescue her coworkers. What will happen next, you'll have to wait and see.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **fractalman:** Yeah, we thought it could make for a good joke.

 **Guest (1):** I have a list of all of Louise and Saito's Pokemon over on the Spacebattles version of this story. If you guys think it would be useful, I'll add a version of it on my profile page.

 **keybladelight:** As you can see, Louise and Saito have already battled a Gym Leader. For Saito, it was Cheren in Unova, before he and his family had to move to Kalos. For Louise, it was Viola in Santalune City. We haven't had a Gym Battle since, due to the infamous length between Gyms 1 and 2 in Kalos, which we used to fill out the teams and the bonds between each other. After Grant's battle is done, expect to see a lot more Gym Battles in quick succession.

 **Princess Asuna:** You'll have to wait and see what happens to Louise after the Kalos saga is over with. We have plans, though.

 **fangs of death:** Thank you, I'm glad you liked the chapters.

 **KiroZen:** I think it's because Team Rocket was the first, and largely the most successful in terms of accomplishing their goals (aka, getting power and money), so the other criminal teams take inspiration from it, if subconciously. Either that or it's just a quirk of the Pokemon world.

That's it for today. Let us know what you guys think. Also, we have a TV Tropes page that is in dire need of content. If any of you guys have a TV Tropes account and decide to drop a few things in there, I would greatly appreciate it.

See you all next time!


	48. Season 1, Episode 10, Chapter 4

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 10, Chapter 4**

[~][~]

' _Why did I decide to do this?'_ the idol thought as she spun around, cupping her hands in front of her face as she tried to calm her labored breathing. It had seemed like such a good idea at first, all she needed to do was sing some songs and perform a choreographed routine, but she hadn't realized just how _long_ she would have to keep it up. It didn't particularly help that the songs she had chosen were extremely taxing on her vocal cords and physical endurance. Maria really hadn't gone easy on her when she made those routines.

She nervously glanced down at her wrist, and her eyes went wide as she saw what song was up next. Why had she put it so late!? She knew that she'd be screaming at the end, so why did she schedule it almost two hours into the show?

' _I apologize for my intrusion,'_ a familiar presence broadcast, _'but he is ready, Miss Nakagawa.'_

' _It certainly took him long enough,'_ Nakagawa Coda mentally groused. ' _How long?_ '

' _Forty minutes, fifty at the very most,'_ Duosion relayed, _'It seems you are in the home stretch.'_

' _All eyes on me, then,'_ Coda acknowledged as she turned to face one of the cameras her cell had set up. "I hope you all are having a great time today! I know I am!" she said in the overly cheerful voice she had been using for the idol. Suppressing a smirk, Coda pulled her shades and gingerly plopped them on her face. "After all, I'm the one in control."

She paused, long enough for her revelation to properly sink in, then continued "I'm sure you all know the drill by now: Beat the boss, stop the raid, and all that. But I daresay, you're not doing a very good job of it. I mean, look at me! I've not been particularly subtle about my location, yet I've managed to keep singing this whole time. I don't know about you, but my confidence in Cyllage's boys in blue has been well and truly shaken. But I think I'll throw you all a bone: if you can fight your way to my lieutenants _and_ put up a good showing against them, maybe I'll give you an opportunity to fight me,"

Coda giggled childishly, "But that's all just a big if. So, in the meantime, let's have some more music."

* * *

"Hurry up Louise, we're almost there!" Elizabeth shouted back to the trailing rosecrown.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Louise cried out in reply, "How are you able to move so quickly in that thing!?"

' _Gardevoirs wear dresses,'_ the Kirlia, Esprit, said, _'Maybe it's similar?'_

The verdette chuckled, her eyes slowly bleeding green. It probably wasn't quite the same, but the mental image was amusing, nonetheless. Regardless, this wasn't the first time she'd fought in a dress. Cracking a smirk, Elizabeth—

No. _No._ _ **No.**_ That wasn't her! _That wasn't her!_ Sure, the memories might be useful at times, but it wasn't her! _It wasn't her!_

 _I had a nightmare last night._

Ribbons of red slashed across Elizabeth's irises, covering up the green stain as she finally replied. "Adrenalin," she flippantly replied, "Come on, we're wasting time."

"I wouldn't quite say that," a woman's voice said, halting the two trainers in their tracks. "After all, you got my attention."

Elizabeth whirled around to face the interloper, her left hand reflexively drawing her longsword while idly noting Esprit had grabbed several nearby bits of rubble in her psychic grip. "Who are you?" the verdette demanded.

"Careful where you point that thing," the woman remarked, taking a drink from the large cup in her hand, "You can call me Atroe, by the way. Everyone else does."

The verdette quickly looked over the newcomer. Green hair, done up in a bob; green eyes; a slim, if top-heavy, build, nothing too suspicious there. Atroe's clothes didn't particularly scream 'Flare' either, being just a teal, denim salopette and a pair of nice-looking shoes. Then again, Erina had said the lieutenants she and Raven had run into weren't dressed like your standard Flare Grunt, so there was still the possibility—

"Why are you just standing there, then?" Louise asked, cutting off Elizabeth's train of thought, "Flare's leader is nearby. We can use all the help we can get."

"Louise…" Elizabeth began.

' _I don't think she's—'_ Esprit tried to cut in.

"I think you misunderstand why I'm here, little girl," Atroe laughed, picking up a red jacket from a nearby bench and slipping it on, "As Coda's chief lieutenant, I can assure you that you won't get past me."

"So?" Louise shot back, quickly recovering from her blunder, "I've fought other Flare members before, you don't seem all that different!"

"To your untrained eyes, I guess," Atroe said darkly, "Well, I am feeling a little generous right now, so..." the lieutenant threw out a pair of Great Balls, revealing a spiny, powder-blue dome and a large, silver, crablike creature; a Toxapex and a Golisopod. "I challenge you to a double battle, six against four. I'm sure the both of you have at least three each."

"And if we don't want to play your game?" Elizabeth asked, eyeing the Brutal Star warily.

' _Yeah! Why should we?'_ Esprit added, motioning her rocks threateningly.

Atroe laughed in amusement, "Well—"

"Rock Smash!" Louise shouted as an explosion bloomed directly in front of the Flare lieutenant, sending the surprised woman flying into a wall. "Come on Elizabeth, they're distracted!"

Elizabeth blinked in surprise as the younger girl ran past her and she belatedly began running to catch up, wondering what had just happened. Had Louise created that explosion? Was she always able to do that? Out of the corner of her eye, the verdette saw a flash of movement followed shortly by a horrific rending sound. Acting on instinct, she dove for Louise, tackling the smaller girl to the ground mere instants before Golisopod slammed two large chunks of road directly in front of them, blocking their path forward.

"As… I was saying… earlier," Atroe said as she extricated herself from the broken wall. Esprit launched her rocks at the lieutenant, not intending to let her finish. Golisopod leapt into the air and _flew_ over to his trainer's side, reducing the barrage of debris to dust with a flurry of punches.

Atroe chuckled at the display, "I'm a lot tougher than I look, so don't expect something like that to even come close to incapacitating me."

' _Then why would you have your overgrown shrimp protect you?'_ Esprit challenged, and the Flare Lieutenant shrugged.

"He worries too much," Atroe admitted as she calmly retrieved her cup and drained it before she turned to face the two younger women, a broad smile fixed on her face even as a black sludge dripped down her right arm.

"But you know what? I'm not even mad," she said, "In fact, my challenge is still open to you. Go on, pick your teams, I'll wait."

To further emphasize her challenge, Golisopod and Toxapex stepped back, allowing both Louise and Elizabeth breathing room. The rosecrown flinched her arm as though she was about to cast again, but then sighed and pocketed her wand. With a frown, Louise pulled out her Pokédex and tried to scan them.

"Uhh, Elizabeth?" Louise whispered hesitantly, "My Pokédex didn't have any entries for those Pokémon. Do you know what they are?"

"Figures that they haven't pushed that update through yet," Elizabeth muttered, reaching for Machamp's Pokéball, "They're both from the Alola region. The big one is a Golisopod, a Bug/Water-type. They're strong, smart, and annoying to fight. Leave him to me. As for the spiny dome, that's a Toxapex, Poison/Water-type. There's a reason the neurotoxin symbol is designed to look like one, so try to avoid her spikes at all costs. Even the non-Poison-type barbs can deliver their toxins."

"I'll keep that in mind," Louise said, grabbing a Luxury Ball from her belt, "Go, Auspice!"

' _What about me?'_ the Kirlia asked.

"Make sure she isn't trying anything," Elizabeth said as she released Machamp. The four-armed Pokémon sized up his challenge and smiled, flexing his muscles to issue a challenge. Golisopod responded in kind, and Atroe smirked.

"Glad to see you accepted my offer," Atroe smugly said, "Golisopod, Fury Cutter."

"Machamp, Dynamic Punch!" the verdette ordered.

With a nod, Machamp charged to meet the giant isopod head-on. With a yell of exertion, the Superpower Pokémon's fist struck Golisopod square in the jaw, but the Hard Scale Pokémon still managed to bring his claws up, slashing his adversary across the chest. Elizabeth grit her teeth as Louise gave an order to her Absol, but the verdette wasn't fully paying attention. She felt everything else fade away as Machamp and Golisopod came into sharp contrast. Quickly falling into a rhythm, Elizabeth shouted order after order to Machamp as he unleashed a flurry of punches, kicks, chops, and grapples on the giant isopod, but he endured. Golisopod wasn't just taking it, though, he fought back just as hard, slashing at his opponent again and again with Fury Cutter after Fury Cutter. Golisopod was biased towards physical attacks, but why was he bothering with such a weak—

Oh. Right.

The verdette felt something whistle past her ear as a girl screamed in pain. Golisopod staggered back as Machamp hit him in the chest with a Cross Chop. Machamp fell to his knees, worn out from the hail of increasingly powerful slashes he had endured, but Golisopod just stood there, breathing heavily. The Hard Scale Pokémon slowly staggered upright, faced his opponent, and shot him a jaunty salute before retreating. Seeing that he was in no condition to continue, Elizabeth recalled Machamp as well.

"I think you actually impressed him," Atroe remarked as Elizabeth felt the world bleed back into focus, "I'll even be nice and count that as a win for you, though your friend really isn't doing so well."

Shocked by the lieutenant's words, the verdette whirled around to face Louise, just in time to see her Absol faint from poison.

"Auspice… Return…" Louise ground out as she fell to one knee, clutching her side in pain.

"Esprit, what happened?!" Elizabeth asked in a panic, "What's wrong with her?!"

' _That, that, that_ brute _was throwing around her spines left and right. Louise took three to her chest before I could get her out of the way,'_ Esprit relayed in a panic, _'I tried to heal her, but nothing's working! If anything, her pain is only getting worse!'_

Elizabeth bit down on her lower lip so hard it bled. Yet another person injured because of her. "We need to get her out of here. It's not healthy to have Toxapex venom in your system for too long," Elizabeth said at last, turning to address Atroe, "You're not going to try and stop us, are you?"

"Why would I?" Atroe calmly replied, "That would be needlessly cruel, and besides, I was only told to keep people out of the plaza, not mindlessly attack anyone who comes near."

"N-no," Louise groaned, struggling to her feet, "Y-you... nearly died last time you fought Flare… I'm not going to let a little poison stop me. Esprit, it's your turn."

' _I won't let you down!'_ the Kirlia exclaimed.

"Ah, well," Atroe nonchalantly said, "I guess it was worth a shot. Milotic!"

Elizabeth growled. Machamp was the only well-trained member of her team, and with him out of commission, she'd need a lot of luck to pull off a victory. Well, might as well pin her hope on the unknown element. "Spettro!"

The Pokéball broke open mid-air, revealing nothing but its inner workings. Everyone stared at it in absolute bewilderment, none of them entirely sure what to make of it.

"What, is your Pokémon invisible?" Atroe asked, incredulous, "If it is, then that's pretty cool, but if it's a bluff, I really don't see what you could gain from this."

"Uhh… She's behind you," Elizabeth said, pointing at the Sewaddle as she slowly descended on a piece of string.

"I'm not falling for that trick," Atroe bluntly stated.

' _She's not trying to trick you,'_ Esprit said, _'There really is a Sewaddle behind you. Also, she says: "You've already lost.""_

"What? Is there?" the lieutenant asked Milotic, who nodded an affirmative, "Well, if you say so."

As soon as Atroe turned to face Spettro, the Sewaddle let out an ear-piercing shriek. Atroe reflexively covered her ears and took a few steps back, only to step on a lone piece of string, which broke under her weight. Freed from their prison of tension, several strings rushed upwards as their attached counterweights rushed downwards, stretching taught a net underneath Atroe and her Pokémon, launching them upwards, where they became entangled in the tangled mass of strings Spettro had apparently set up beforehand.

Satisfied with her job well done, Spettro leapt down and trotted over to Elizabeth, then squeaked.

' _I think she wants you to praise her,'_ Esprit said, _'That's not just me guessing, she actually said "Praise me."'_ Esprit paused, then leaned down to pat the Sewaddle's head. ' _Good job, Spettro!_ "

Spettro chittered at the praise, then looked expectantly towards her trainer.

"Uhh… Good job...?" Elizabeth hesitantly said, reaching out to pat the Sewaddle on the head. Spettro rubbed her head against Elizabeth's head while Esprit began trying to tend to Louise. The young noblewoman was hastily applying first aid to her wound. Elizabeth saw that it was an over-the-counter antidote and pursed her lips. The medicine would undoubtedly help her, no question, but it wasn't Toxapex-antivenom. She had to get her to the hospital, now, and with reluctance Elizabeth decided against attempting to continue trying to stop Coda and helped her up.

"Here," she said, and Louise looked at her in slight surprise. Then, the rosecrown took hold of Elizabeth's hand, and wobbled on her feet. "We need to get you to the hospital."

"But… What about your…?" Louise began, but Elizabeth shook her head.

"Right now, getting that venom out of you is more important. And… I'm sorry."

"Sorry? For wha-?"

Then, Atroe faceplanted to the ground, laughing uncontrollably. "That was one of the funniest things I've ever seen, even though it happened to me!" she exclaimed, leaping to her feet energetically, "Now get ready! You're on in sixty seconds!"

"Wait, what!?" Elizabeth exclaimed, then her world was consumed in a bright flash of light.

* * *

Saito and his Pokémon ran through the city, a deep frown marring his face. A light sheen of sweat covered his skin, dirtied by the dust floating in the air. Sirens blared in the distance as emergency response tried to quell the damage, and Saito's frown deepened as he passed yet another ruined storefront. There was no one to be seen, telling Saito that this attack must have been a hit-and-run, but for what purpose? There was no purpose here. A quick check inside told him that they didn't even steal the money or any store items. They simply just broke the place and left. After seeing far too many examples to count of this exact same phenomenon, Saito was now convinced that the chaos gripping Cyllage was not a simple act of random violence.

This was a distraction. For what, he did not know, but a distraction was the only thing that truly made sense. Saito was reminded of a show he used to watch when he was a kid about a family of ancient Druddigons who defended Castelia City from evildoers under the cover of night. One of their main antagonists was a businessman who, even when he lost, managed to eek out a victory simply by planning for a possible failure. Could this attack on Cyllage City be a similar type of plan? If so, then what was their true objective? Was it inside the city, or not?

Saito was cut from his thoughts when a turned a corner, only to see a large squad of police officers. They were wearing riot gear, their heads covered by black helmets and wielding batons and riot shields. Beside them were their Pokémon. Not only were they joined by Manectrics, the traditional Pokémon of Kalosian police, they were also joined by Arcanines, Luxrays, Granbulls, Stoutlands, and even a few Swanna. The word 'RIOT' was emblazoned across their vests, telling Saito that this must be the Cyllage City Riot Squad. Sighing in relief, Saito prepared to move on, figuring that wherever they were going would be in safe hands. He moved to try and take out his Pokédex, only to hear that blasted song ring out through the loudspeakers, causing him to stop and groan.

"You know," Derflinger began, "this 'Coda' chick started out alright, but now her voice is scratchy. She should really stop, or she'll hurt herself and our eardrums."

"Mmhmm," Saito mumbled an agreement. The only consolation he could find in her constant audio bombardment was that she brazenly admitted that not only was she Flare; she was their leader. If he had to guess, the Cyllage Police Department's riot squad was being sent to take her down, and he couldn't but smile at that.

"Alright!" he heard a familiar voice say, catching his attention and causing Saito to turn around. "We're making a beeline straight to the arena. Any Flare Grunts get in our way, we put 'em down."

"Yes, sir!" the police responded as they began to move down the street, leaving their leader behind. Intrigued, Saito stayed to try and catch a glimpse of whomever was leading this force, and to his surprise he saw that it was Grant. The Cyllage City Gym Leader kept his eyes glued to the backs of his men, nodding at their dedication, until he sensed someone was looking at him. He turned to look at Saito, and his face, too, warped in surprise.

"Saito?" he asked, remembering his name. Saito nodded, then walked forward to shake his hand with a smile on his face as Grant did the same.

"Grant," Saito said. "Not surprised you're caught up in this."

"I should be saying the same thing to you, based off your recent experiences," Grant admitted, beckoning Saito to join him as he made to follow the riot squad. Saito thought about whether to do so, then decided that staying with Grant was the best course of action. They were heading towards Coda and stopping her would be the best chance to stop this madness.

"Yeah, thing's have been crazy," Saito replied as they caught up to the police officers, then frowned slightly. "This is a distraction."

"We figured that out a while ago," Grant stated in utter seriousness, any hint of pleasure gone. "An attack on this scale, for no apparent tangible benefit is completely out of Flare's character. Especially with how many cells are involved."

Saito nodded, having already figured that from his earlier interrogation of a captured Grunt.

"Do you have any idea what their real objective is?" Saito asked, but Grant shook his head.

"No, but I know who does," he replied, pointing towards the arena they were headed towards. Bright, multicolored lights danced across the sky along with fireworks, a sharp contrast to the chaos unfolding around it. Saito pursed his lips and nodded in agreement. Stopping Coda, whoever she was, seemed to be their best option, and with the assistance of the police, Saito felt confident in their ability to do so. Grant, recognizing the look on Saito's face, nodded as they continued moving down the street.

"If we're lucky," he continued, "we should be able to—"

Grant was suddenly halted mid-sentence when the police squadron turned a corner. They stopped and stared at a collection of Flare operatives busy ransacking the street. There were eighteen of them, a collection of men and women wearing Flare-versions of biker outfits. The cell's leader was easily scene from her darker and spikier outfit, and her eyes held a malice Saito had never seen. The criminals were, for a moment, surprised at the sudden intrusion, but the Flare leader snarled and pulled out a pair of Pokéballs.

"Don't just stand there! Attack!" she ordered, releasing a Roserade and Vileplume to her side. The Flare Grunts threw out Pokémon of their own as the police charged at them with their batons raised and Pokémon charging forward. The street descended into an all-out brawl as police fought criminal and Pokémon fought Pokémon.

Grant eyed the leader and released Onyx from his Pokéball. The Rock Snake Pokémon screeched into the heavens, causing many of the Pokémon to instinctually flinch, and it raced towards her. Rather than appear afraid, however, the cell leader merely smirked and pointed her arm at Onyx.

"Roserade, darling, use Razor Leaf!" she ordered. Rosarade smiled wickedly then waved swiped her arms towards Onyx. A hail of razor-sharp leaves shot towards him, cutting across Onyx' rocky hide. He screeched in pain, but continued forward, trying to run Roserade over. The Bouquet Pokémon leaped out of the way, firing another round of Razor Leaf at Onyx' side. He screeched again and turned to face Roserade, only for Vileplume to douse the Rock/Ground-type Pokémon in a cloud of purple powder.

"Oh, no! That's Poison Powder!" Saito yelled out, recognizing the attack. Knowing that Grant's Onyx was in trouble, Saito turned towards his Pokémon. They were fighting alongside the police against team Flare, but a whistle from their trainer quickly halted them in their tracks. Saito pointed them towards the still battling Onyx, and at once they understood.

' _Allow me,_ ' Maindo said as a faint purple sheen covered his body. Before Roserade could even react, her body was flung back by a powerful Confusion. Vileplume turned towards Maindo, intending to retaliate, only for Tanuki to slam into her with a Quick Attack. His momentum carried them forward, leaving the cell leader behind. Saito, with Ronin and Shogun by his side, ran up to face her, stopping a few feet from her.

"Hmm," the woman grunted as she coldly regarded him. "So, you're the squirt who intervened at the Daycare and Ambrette Town?"

"What's it to you?" Saito asked, stalling for time as he tried to come up with a strategy. The battle raged around them, both sides equally matched. He felt Onyx shift as he slithered behind him, Grant running up to his side.

"And you must be Grant Lino, Rock-type Gym Leader of Cyllage City?" the woman continued, not caring that she was surrounded.

"You know our names," Grant answered, hearing Onyx' labored breathing above him, "but I'm afraid we don't know yours."

"Oh," the woman laughed, "where are my manners? The name's Aki. I'm the cell leader – or, rather, former cell leader – of the Coumarine cell. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

The woman ended with a dramatic bow, causing Saito to frown. There was something off about her mannerisms, the way she seemed to simply not care. It was unnerving, and Saito clenched his fist.

"I'm going to give you one chance: give up and surrender. There's no need for further violence," Grant offered, holding a second Pokéball in his hand. Rather than take the offer, Aki merely laughed.

"Ohhoho, Grant. Poor, deluded Grant." Aki smiled wickedly, staring into both Saito's and Grant's eyes. " _Why do you think I'm here?!_ "

At once, thick vines erupted out of the ground like geysers, slapping Saito's Pokémon away while wrapping themselves around Onyx. Saito and Grant dove out of the way, managing to avoid the vines' wrath, and quickly shot up to their feet. Emerging from a dark alleyway, they saw a Tangrowth walk towards them, staring out with blank, expressionless eyes. Beside it was a Victreebell, twirling its vine-arms in a circle above its mouth, along with a Lilligant emerging from behind its back. Finally, with a cruel smirk, Aki released her final Pokémon, a Whimsicott, and her entire team coalesced behind her.

Saito snarled as his and Grant's Pokémon recovered. Grant pulled out another Pokéball and opened it, revealing a pale-blue sauropod with two sails racing down its neck. Saito recognized it as an Aurorus, and he desperately wanted to scan the Tundra Pokémon, but refocused himself on the task at hand.

"Aurorus, Ice Beam! Onyx, Rock Slide!"

"Tanuki, Meteor Mash! Maindo, Shadow Ball! Ronin, Scald! Tengu, Bullet Seed! Shogun, Bite!"

"Hahaha! Go and play, my sweet little flowers!" Aki ordered, and at once the street between them became consumed in a flurry of ice, leaves, rocks and more. Bodies hurled themselves at their opponents, the Pokémon battle descended into an all-out brawl.

Shogun watched all of this while standing protectively in front of Saito. It wasn't that he didn't want to join the battle, for he genuinely did. However, he also knew that jumping in was not an option. He currently had no real options to engage Grass-types at range and trying to engage them up close would undoubtedly turn disastrous for him. So, he stayed protectively in front of Saito, snapping at any Pokémon that drew near.

When another Energy Ball soared past Saito's head, he ducked behind a car for cover, Shogun coming beside him. Saito glanced at the Pokémon egg, displeased at how he didn't have the time to keep it safe at the Pokémon center, and readjusted its casing. He could feel it moving ever so slightly, telling him that whatever laid inside was edging closer and closer to hatching. Saito just hoped that it wouldn't hatch at this very moment.

"Derf!" Saito called out as the Honedge in question swiped away at a Vine Whip.

"Yeah?" Derflinger replied, dodging another attack.

"Go help Onyx! He needs help!" Saito ordered, pointing at the Pokémon in question. True to his word, Onyx was indeed struggled against the army of Grass-types before him. Even with his massive bulk, it wasn't doing much against their Grass-type attacks, which easily cut through the Rock/Ground-type's defenses. Saito grinded his teeth, wishing that Louise was here with him. Her team would have been perfect against his current opponent, while he was at a slight disadvantage. Derflinger nodded then flew over to help his ally, and Saito poked his head out from behind his cover to see what was going on.

Grant had thrown out more of his Pokémon: a Golem, a Gigalith, an Aggron, and Rhyperior. They, too, were engaging the enemy, although they were having the same problem as Onyx. Against a team of Grass-type Pokémon, they were at an obvious disadvantage. Slowly, Saito turned his head towards Aki, who was cackling with mad glee as she ordered her team to inflict as much pain as possible. Various powders filled the air, coating the Pokémon, both ally and enemy, and inflicting debilitating effects. To his horror, the woman appeared to be purposefully slowing down her efforts, wanting to inflict as much pain as possible. Suddenly, her earlier statement made a lot more sense.

' _She's a sociopath,_ ' Saito realized with a grimace. ' _Things just keep getting better and better…_ '

Saito was broken out of his thoughts then a Poochyena jumped out from the front of the car. Seeing Saito and Shogun, it growled and charged forward, only for Shogun to meet it head-on. Using his larger bulk, Shogun bit down on the Dark-type's back, causing the Bite Pokémon to scream in pain. Shogun then slammed its body repeatedly against the car, denting the aluminum frame with loud bangs. Finally, with its eyes rolling around, Shogun used Stomp to finish his opponent off, then turned to face Saito.

"Good job, boy," Saito congratulated his Pokémon, flinching as more attacks streamed over him. Frowning, he tried to rise out of cover, only to immediately duck as more attacks shot over him. "Damn!"

Shogun was startled by his trainer's near incident, but Saito waved him off. He tried again, dashing away from the car to duck behind a concrete planter, with more attacks chasing after him. One almost managed to hit him, only for Onyx' body to take the blow. Grant was running alongside his Pokémon, ordering them left and right to try and stop this madness. Aki was continuing to engage in the senseless violence with mad glee, her presence the only thing keeping her men from outright surrendering. Narrowing his eyes, Saito tried to think of a way to get to her but found none among the chaos.

He then heard a grunt from Shogun, who was protectively standing beside him, and an idea popped into Saito's head.

"Shogun, do you remember the museum?" Saito asked, and Shogun tilted his head in confusion. "The building you woke up in."

Shogun's eyes widened in realization and nodded frantically. He only spent a few minutes in that place, but he never quite liked it. It was too artificial in his opinion, trying to be something it wasn't. Saito nodded at his Pokémon's answer, then pointed straight towards Aki.

"Listen, I need you to sneak around and get her, okay? Just like you did with Carnegie," Saito ordered, and Shogun gasped. Why was his trainer ordering him to attack another person when, just hours before, told him to never do that again? Seeing his Pokémon's confusion, Saito sighed and rubbed the side of Shogun's head.

"I know what I'm saying goes against what I told you before," he began, "but this is an entirely different situation. Louise, Grant, and most of the trainers we battle against are friends and rivals at worst. They are not our enemies, but Team Flare is. Team Flare will not show mercy against us, so I'm giving you permission, okay?"

Shogun contemplated Saito's words. Louise, Saito's mate he assumed, was someone he knew he couldn't ever attack during a spar. He knew that now. Grant was a little surprising, but when he viewed their challenge against him to be a rite of passage or another spar, it made sense. Fighting Grant wasn't a true fight, more a contest of strength. But Team Flare, with their different and foul odors, were simply enemies. Enemies that threatened his pack, his alpha, and the egg he held in his back pouch. The thought angered him, and he nodded his head at Saito in understanding.

He couldn't attack Saito's friends or rivals, but his enemies were fair game. Hunching low to the ground, Shogun stalked his prey, keeping out of sight from the attacks. He saw the massive Aurorus firing a beam of ice into the Tangrowth, the Pokémon counterattacking with a Solar Beam. Tengu was using Bide against the Victreebell's attacks while Tanuki and Maindo tag-teamed the Vileplume. Shogun ignored all of his as he crept closer and closer to Aki's position. He saw that Grant had engaged her in a battle of his own, the two trading blows. Nestled between two chunks of fallen debris, Shogun waited for his opening, aiming for her legs. He considered trying to jump towards her, but knew his legs weren't strong enough yet for him to even try.

"Hahaha!" Aki cackled as she dodged a punch from Grant, retaliating with a punch of her own. Grant blocked it with a raised arm and moved to kick her, but Aki gracefully wheeled backwards, her foot kicking Grant in the chin. He stumbled back, rubbing the sore spot on his face where her boot struck, and she laughed.

"Oh, did I do that?" she mocked, and Grant snarled. More chaos unfolded around her, and instead of showing any semblance of remorse, she only showed unabashed glee.

"Don't you understand what you're doing?! Stop this, before more people get hurt!" Grant begged, trying to appeal to her inner humanity, but Aki shook her head.

"Grant, Grant, Grant. Why should I bother stopping? After all, once our plans finally come to fruition, these people won't matter anyway!" Aki revealed, causing Grant's eyes to widen. She wasn't considering-

The next thing Grant knew, a small orange and brown blur shot out from a nook, slamming into Aki's leg and knocking her off balance. She fell back with a shout, and Grant immediately seized his opportunity. Dashing forward, he tackled her and pinned the crazed woman to the ground. She thrashed and kicked, only for Shogun to latch onto her legs with his jaws, hard enough to immobilize them but not enough to cause any harm. With their leader pinned, her cell began to panic, their attacks becoming wider and wider. The police's, Grant's, and Saito's Pokémon, however, remained calm and focused, a renewed vigor adding to their attacks. One by one, Team Flare's Pokémon and operatives fell until there were only a handful. One tried to run for it, only for a web of electricity to shoot out and envelop him, causing the spasming body to fall to the ground like a brick. Getting the message, the remaining members threw their hands into the air and surrendered.

"No, no NO!" Aki screeched as a policeman handcuffed her and gathered her cell up. From the sidelines, Grant tended to his injured Pokémon alongside Saito, administering medicine to alleviate their pain.

"Thank you, Saito, for helping out back there," Grant finally said as he gave Onyx an antidote.

"No problem," Saito replied as he, too, checked on his Pokémon. Once both trainers were satisfied with their Pokémon's condition, they looked towards the police squadron. Some were staying behind to watch over the captured criminals, ignoring the cell leader's crazed shouts, while the rest continued on towards the arena. Grant ushered Saito to join him, and together they raced towards the location of the Flare leader. Once again, Saito tried to reach Louise, but to his shock found that his Pokédex wasn't even there. Had he dropped it somehow? Frowning, he forced himself to move on, knowing that there were more important things to worry about, and hoping that his best friend was alright.

* * *

It was loud. Everything was so, so _loud_.

Louise curled up tightly as the pain continued to spread across her body. It hadn't been so bad at first, she had even thought that Elizabeth was exaggerating the danger when she had first gotten hit by the spines. What even was a neurotoxin anyway? She hadn't come across the term before, but it must be dangerous if someone felt the need to create a warning symbol for it. Whatever it was, the antidote she took didn't seem to affect it in any way.

" _Think two one and hardly- 'Who are we?' 'You aren't me!'"_ the young girl belted out as she continued her song.

Gritting her teeth in an attempt to mask her agony, the rosecrown slowly raised her head to glare at the cell leader. While Esprit might have been adamant that the young idol was a member of Flare, it had still surprised Louise to learn that _she_ was the one calling the shots. How could someone so young just sit by and gleefully sing while hundreds of people under her command caused mayhem all over the city?

"Hey, Louise," Elizabeth quietly said, "are you sure you want to go through with this? Esprit has told me that she can get you out of here without much trouble."

"I-I'm n-not… leaving," Louise forced out, wincing at how weak her voice sounded, "I-I've al-ready made… that c-clear."

The verdette looked conflicted for a second, then, with a sigh, pulled Louise into an embrace. "Don't worry, Little Rose," she softly murmured, rubbing the younger girl's shoulders in an attempt to calm her, "You'll be okay."

"Thank you," Louise hummed, resting her head on Elizabeth's shoulder. The verdette blushed, but then refocused herself as she helped the intoxicated Louise further into the open-air arena, closer to the Flare admin. The young girl was still singing, the sounds ringing in Louise's ears to the point where it physically hurt. Each boom of the base made her wince, which Elizabeth couldn't help but note.

"Again, Esprit can get you—" she began, but Louise shot her a look.

"Don't finish that…sentence," Louise struggled to say. Elizabeth pursed her lips, part of her wanting to refuse but ultimately knew that it would be pointless to even try. So, she didn't, and prayed that everything that turn out alright.

Finally, the song began to die down, and Louise sighed in relief as the painful noise subsided. With her ears no longer pounding, she was able to stand on her own two feet now, and so Elizabeth let go of her. Almost as soon as she did, Louise began to sway, but was able to balance herself.

"Oh my, she doesn't look too good! I think she should get to a hospital," the Flare admin stated in a mocking tone. Louise wanted to protest, but sudden found that the world's color scheme flipped. The steel-grey on the admin's outfit suddenly became purple while Elizabeth's entire body turned green.

' _Oh, that's not good,_ ' Louise realized, swaying again. Esprit frowned and psychically helped her stay up, then began to use Heal Pulse on Louise's body. Esprit prepared to notify Elizabeth of her trainer's worsening condition, but a quick look on the verdette's face told her Louise was unfortunately no longer at the top of her mind. Esprit scanned Elizabeth's mind, then recoiled at the rage she was exhibiting. She was angry at a lot of things, actually. There was general anger towards the chaos Flare was inflicted upon the city and its inhabitants, as well as Louise's condition. But most of the anger stemmed from a more personal source, and it wasn't hard for Esprit to figure out why.

"You uncouth villain!" Elizabeth dramatically proclaimed with a dramatic flurry of her hand. Esprit, Brennaraki, Auspice and Aile starred flabbergasted at what Elizabeth was doing, while the Flare admin only began to laugh hysterically.

"Ohhoho, that is adorable!" she mocked and grinned, then pulled up her microphone once more. "Sadly, as much as I would like to play dress up, the show must go on!"

The Flare Admin began to sing once again, only for Elizabeth, still playing character for some odd reason, to release Machamp and point towards her.

"Machamp, remove this annoyance," Elizabeth ordered. Machamp took one look at his surroundings and nodded, then leaped towards the Flare Admin with his four fists raised high. Before he could make contact, however, Machamp was hit by an unexpected Sucker Punch courtesy of a Mawile, which sent him back to the stage floor. He landed on the balls of his feet, digging his hands into the ground to slow his movement, and once he stopped, he glared at his opponent.

"How _impatient_ ," the Admin smirked towards Elizabeth, who herself was grinding her teeth in fury. The Admin then looked over to a worsening Louise, and a wicked gleam entered her eye.

"Ninetails, Gothorita, be dears and entertain our little friend, please?" she asked. Behind her, the aforementioned Pokémon snarled and crept forward, only for Louise's Pokémon to step forward protectively. Despite her mind reeling from the effects of the toxin, Louise was still cognizant of what was going on around her. Right now, there were two Pokémon baring down on her from high in the stands, with Machamp squaring off against a Mawile. The Pokémon was a Steel/Fairy-type, which by itself gave Machamp a slight disadvantage, but what concerned Louise the most was the small, green, blob-like Pokémon currently floating towards him from above.

"Esprit…what's that…Pokémon?" Louise asked, shakily pointing towards the floating creature. Esprit shot it a look, then psychically relayed what information she knew about it.

' _It's a Duosion. Psychic-type,_ ' Esprit replied, and Louise frowned. She swayed once again, her vision getting blurrier, but a quick application of Heal Pulse managed to set her straight. Louise shook her head, then turned to face Auspice.

"Auspice, help out Machamp. Keep that Duosion away from him," she ordered. Auspice nodded at her trainer, then ran off to the side. Her attention was focused squarely on the Duosion, and then her horn began to glow before she fired a Razor Wind at it. Surprised, the Pokémon was buffeted by the attack, but after twirling in mid-air for a bit, Duosion was able to right itself. It then glared at Auspice, who glared right back.

"Oh my! It seems as though she still has some fight in her after all!" the admin called out with a wide smile. Louise swayed again, and the smile grew wider. "But for how much longer, I wonder? Tell you what, let's make this interesting, shall we? Ninetails, Gothorita, hang back for now. But if she tries to leave before the show's over, or if another of her little darlings interferes…"

The Admin snapped her fingers, and at once a spotlight shown onto a large pole located at the back of the stage. To Louise's and Elizabeth's alarm, they saw an unconscious Janet tied to it, her head slumped down.

"Unhand her, now!" Elizabeth demanded with a snarl, but the Admin haughtily wagged her finger.

"Uh-uh-uh! Not unless you beat me!" she bowed. "Flare Admin Nakagawa Coda!"

Elizabeth glared at Coda, took another glace at Janet, then placed her hand on her hip. "Say, Coda. I notice you're not wearing red. Allow me to _correct that._ "

With as much venom filling her voice as she possibly could, Elizabeth ordered Machamp to charge. At the same time, Louise mumbled an order to Auspice to assist her just as she felt her legs give way. She fell to her bottom, her head spinning and again prompting Esprit to use Heal Pulse on her.

' _Louise, we need to get you out of here!_ ' Esprit proclaimed, but Louise shook her head.

"If we do…that girl will get hurt…and I refuse to let someone get hurt because of me," Louise stated with absolute resolve. Esprit was taken aback for a minute, then nodded. The Kirlia then turned to face their opponent, noticing how Aile and Brennaraki were still placing themselves protectively near Louise.

' _Brennaraki, what should be do?_ ' Esprit asked, deferring to Louise's starter. The shiny Fennekin glanced over at the battle happening near them, then back at Esprit.

" _Right now, we protect Louise. Auspice can handle herself, but if things start to go south for her, I don't care what that psychopath says. We'll jump in regardless._ "

" _That's what I'm talking about,_ " Aile stated as she hovered in midair, eying the tied-up girl. Judging by the costume she was wearing, she must have been one of those wrestlers she'd heard so much about. Regardless, Aile knew that should the three of them jump in, priority one was getting Louise to safety. Priority two was getting the captured girl out, and Aile was confident that she could get over to her fast enough to avoid any harm coming to either of them. That being said, she did begin to stealthily use Agility on herself over and over again, just in case.

" _Hey, Absol! You suck!_ " Ninetails heckled Auspice from the stands, smirking to herself. Gothorita was right next to her, doing the exact same thing to Machamp. Occasionally the two would swap targets for their mockery, but so far neither showed a willingness to intercede in the battle below. Auspice, meanwhile, kept her head up high and ignored them, focusing instead on assisting Machamp in their four-way bout. Her attention was directed towards the Duosion, intending to keep the Psychic-type away from Machamp while he himself kept the Mawile away from them. Overall the two were making a good team, although Auspice couldn't help but feel worried.

At the same time, the fact that Coda was _still singing_ was beginning to get on her nerves, the song itself about love for some odd reason, but she refused to let the Flare admin know that. That and the Ninetails and Gothorita were now beginning to heckle her, which she also hated but refused to show.

"Auspice use…ugh…use Night Slash!" Louise stumbled out an order. With a frown marring her face, Auspice did as instructed, leaping towards Duosion with her horn glowing dark-purple. She swiped her horn at the Psychic-type, who was rocketed back from the super-effective blow. Duosion managed to recover, however, then its body glowed bright white as it used Recover. The accumulated wounds healed themselves before Auspice's very eyes, and Absol shook her head before launching a Razor Wind towards it. A Light Screen blocked it, the slice of compressed air shattering across it, then the Duosion retaliated with Hidden Power. The move glowed red, filling with Fire-type energy, then shot towards Auspice. The Absol leaped to the side, managing to dodge it completely, then to her horror saw Duosion fire an attack towards Louise. Surprised, Louise flinched as her body flashed white, but found that otherwise nothing had happened to her. She prepared to shout towards Coda, only to sway again from the toxin's influence. Esprit was on her immediately, trying to use Heal Pulse once again, but to everyone's alarm nothing happened.

' _It's not working!_ ' Esprit shouted out, and Coda laughed at the outraged look Auspice shot towards her.

"It's called Heal Block," she explained, bringing her song to a momentary pause even as Mawile was thrown back by Machamp. "It blocks any attempts at healing for a few minutes. After all, where's the fun in just healing the damage as it comes?"

Auspice looked at Coda in astonishment, then a feeling of pure rage coursed through her body. How dare she play with her trainer's life as though it were a toy?! Even if Auspice had only been with Louise for a short time, she had already observed her long enough to understand who she was. Louise was prideful, stubborn to a fault young girl who dreamed big, yet at the same time held a sense of dignity and true nobility to her. Auspice refused to let this be the end of it, and with a snarl she ran towards Coda with her horn glowing.

"Oh, we can't have that~!" Coda sang, signaling Duosion to fire another Hidden Power at Auspice. The attack stopped her advance cold, but Auspice no longer cared. The events of the day were beginning to wear down on her. She was an Absol, predictors of disasters both natural and manmade. She should have foreseen this, but instead it happened under her watch. People and Pokémon were hurt under her watch, her _trainer_ was hurt under her watch. A mixture of rage and shame was coursing through her veins, and right now she felt as though she was about to snap.

Louise, meanwhile, suddenly began to feel the full effects of the toxin. Without Esprit's Heal Pulses to alleviate them, Louise's health began to take a turn for the worse. Her vision began to blur, her ears rang and throbbed with each move used by the Pokémon, and colors shifted wildly. One moment, the stage was brown, then it turned red, then green, then back to brown again. Sometimes it even turned blue, and that wasn't even considering the Pokémon and humans themselves. At one point she thought the Alolan Ninetails had turned reddish-orange, but just as quickly it turned jet black.

"Hehe, the colors are weird…" Louise chuckled, growing more and more delirious by the second. Pokémon she knew weren't there we beginning to show up all around her, including a small green fairy and a floating pink cat with a long thin tail. Both of them looked surprisingly alarmed, but Louise didn't care anymore. If anything, she thought they looked kinda cute, and then waved.

"Hello!" she greeted the hallucinations, and slowly the green fairy waved back. The pink cat, on the other hand, was much more joyful in its waving, looking positively giddy. Louise chuckled, then felt Aile pecking the top of her head in alarm.

"Huh?" Louise said as she turned her attention back towards her Pokémon. Slowly, the situation she was presently in began to come back into her mind, and Louise forced herself to snap out of it. "Right, right…"

Brennaraki nudged Louise's boot, and she couldn't help but smile at the concern her starter was showing. Right now, however, she had to think of a way to get out of this, and fast.

"Esprit…" Louise struggled to get out, "where are…?" She couldn't even finish the words, but luckily Esprit already knew where she was going with it.

' _Saito and Grant are almost here, along with a whole lot of police officers,_ ' Esprit explained. ' _Also, Maindo says that Saito's_ pissed _._ '

Louise nodded, then looked back at the fight before her. With the toxin ravaging her body and mind, Louise knew that she didn't have much longer before her mind completely snapped, so she had to decide fast. The battle was still evenly matched, but that was partially because of the concern towards the hostage. If she was removed from play, then the Pokémon could focus entirely on stopping Coda. But, if they tried to free her, then Coda would simply end her here and now. Then, before she could even think of a way out of this mess, her mind flipped once again.

" _Hey, Absol! Your mother was a Dedenne, and your father smelt of coba berries!_ " Louise swore that she heard the Ninetails shout towards Auspice, but before she could even enquire as to what the Ninetails meant by that, something in Auspice snapped. The Absol roared, much to the surprise of all of the combatants, and she pounced onto the Duosion. She struck with Night Slash again and again and again, pounding the Duosion into the dirt until it was only seeing stars. Then, no longer caring about keeping up her normal calm and aloof appearance, she picked up Duosion in her mouth and sped into a nearby wall with Quick Attack. The green blob-like Pokémon took the full brunt of both the impact and the attack itself, forming a small crater in the wall that it stuck to like glue. Auspice then spliced at it again with Night Slash, sending it sprawling into the dirt deep into unconsciousness.

Coda stared slack jawed at the surprisingly brutal display, while Elizabeth began to laugh.

"Haha! You unjust fool! You were mistaken to believe we'd fall so easily!" Elizabeth proclaimed, then pointed her finger at Machamp. "Machamp, finish this bout with a Superpower!"

Machamp grinned, then felt his muscles bulge as a blue glow surrounded his body. Mawile began to panic, using Iron Defense in a last-ditch effort to protect herself, but Machamp was already on her. He slammed all four of his fists into her small body, each one feeling as through Mawile was being hit by a truck. The impacts lifted her off the ground, and soon her vision became filled with the sight of a rapidly approaching wall. Mawile struck it with enough force to travel through it, embedding herself into the wall behind it. For a while it appeared as though the Fairy/Steel-type was done for, but even as its body screamed in agony the Mawile managed to pick itself off the wall and make its way back to the battlefield.

Coda frowned but continued to sing. The situation was getting worse by the second, but she still had confidence that she'd manage to carry through this. Besides, Duosion and Mawile weren't even her strongest Pokémon, and these were only newbie trainers.

"Alright, give it up for the opening act~!" Coda sang as she returned Duosion, twirling out of the way of a leaping Auspice. She prepared to signal for Ninetails and Gothorita to jump in and finish these interlopers off, only to pause as a voice entered her head.

"What, no! We're still-!" she protested to seemingly no one, much to Elizabeth's confusion – at this point, Louise was fully delirious, striking up a conversation with the pink cat she insisted to her incredulous Pokémon was totally there – then sighed.

"He could have at least waited until the song finished," Coda said with a frown. "Ah well. A plan's a plan."

She signaled for Ninetails to jump down, the Ice/Fairy-type jumping off the back of a still enraged Auspice while Gothorita began to float upwards. Coda then looked towards Elizabeth and Louise and smiled.

"Now, for the grand finale!" Coda proclaimed, but Elizabeth wasn't having it.

"Not now, not ever you foul cur!" Elizabeth shouted, motioning for Machamp to race forward, but Coda continued unabated.

"Shine on, beat of my heart," she intoned, the pink gem clutched to her chest in an almost penitent pose. In a single, fluid movement, she thrust the gem heavenward. "Pierce the heavens!" Pink auras erupted from the cell leader and Mawile as the latter, with a sudden burst of newfound energy, leapt into the air, a sea of stars trailing behind her.

" _NOVA BURST!_ " Coda cried, swinging her arm down as the starscape twisted into a single point, Mawile driving it down.

" _Move!_ " Elizabeth shouted, finally stepped away from character as she ran for cover. Aile and Esprit had already taken the opportunity to get Janet to safety while Brennaraki dragged a delirious Louise away, then the star contacted the ground.

At first, everything was silent, and only a white, bright light indicated that anything was happening. Then, the air was filled with a cacophonous roar as a massive explosion rippled from the middle of the stage. As though in tandem, fireworks and pyrotechnics exploded everywhere, filling the stage with light, sound, and smoke. The trainers and Pokémon dived to the ground in a futile attempt for cover, feeling the heat wash over them as they covered their ears and screamed. Louise felt her body fly back then tumble across the ground, screaming as more and more explosions rang out. Soon, however, she was able to rise to her feet, and in a blind panic she ran off, not caring where she went so long as it got her away from here.

The others, meanwhile, continued to cower on the ground, protecting their heads with wings, paws, or hands. Dust and debris began to rain down upon them, but soon the noise began to subside. When it finally stopped, the group tentatively began to pick themselves off the ground. They starred in amazement at the now destroyed stage. What once was a grand wooden platform covered in expensive stage lights and speakers was now nothing more than a charred, smoldering wreck. Elizabeth was silent, then noticed that Louise's Pokémon had indeed managed to get Janet to safety in time.

"Janet!" Elizabeth yelled, running over to her coworker. She quickly checked for any injuries, but luckily outside of a few bruises she was alright. She appeared to be under a deep Hypnosis, which would probably explain why she was still asleep even after all that racket. Then she heard a flurry of footsteps, and with a start she turned around in anticipation of another fight, only to see Saito and a tall, dark skinned man next to him. Behind them were several police officers, and Elizabeth sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank Arceus you're—" she began, but an angry Saito cut her off.

"Where's Louise?" he demanded. Elizabeth was taken back, but with a frown she pointed to where she last saw the pinkette.

"She's right over there, you…" Elizabeth stopped, for now she noticed that the space where she was pointing to was tellingly empty. There was no sign of Louise anywhere, not even Brennaraki. She shot up in alarm, ignoring the infuriated look on Saito's face, and began to call out her name.

* * *

Louise stumbled through the now empty Cyllage City streets, holding herself against the wall of a nearby building. The sound of the battle was far behind her, and to her relief no other sounds were coming out at her. Finally, some peace and quiet, enough for her ears to stop ringing at least. Beside her was Brennaraki, who herself was trying to drag Louise back towards the plaza, but Louise wasn't having it. There was no way she was going back there, not after what just happened.

She took another step, then felt her legs give out from under her. She fell to the ground, her arms barely stopping her head from impacting the concrete. As she tried to push herself up, she felt bile shoot up her throat, and despite her attempts to stop herself, Louise threw up everything she had in her stomach. She continued to do so, Brennaraki yipping around to try and find help, then both of them heard a pair of footsteps come towards her. Louise looked up, and to her immense surprise, saw her mother looking down on her in stoic silence.

"Mo…mother?" Louise called out in disbelief. The woman said nothing, then knelt down to pick her up.

"Come on, let's get you to the Pokémon Center," she said, holding Louise close. Louise numbly nodded, then felt consciousness leave her.

[~][~]

Hello everyone. We deeply sorry for the long wait. Real life got in the way of this story, but rest assured we are not giving it up. We intend to finish Outsiders and Louise's journey across the Kalos Region.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **mathdump:** Yes, actually. The ultimate pairing of Outsiders is Saito/Louise, same as in FoZ canon. Our method is to showcase them going from friends to more than friends to final lovers, a nice, healthy progression.

 **Zane Tribal Tyne Alexandros:** You will see what's up with Maindo eventually. Rest assured that he does have a personal reason as to why he does what he does. And I'm glad you liked the heartwarming moment between Louise and Sycamore. The relationship between them is something specially, especially for Louise as Augustine, even more than Colbert, is perhaps the first professor who was 100% supportive of her and her dreams/goals. She looks up to him tremendously, if you couldn't tell.

 **Vein Bloodborne:** Thank you, I'm glad you liked the story. And it's nice to see some of my readers from Hunters of Justice coming over to Outsiders as well.

 **Guester:** Louise's next two Pokemon are currently set in stone, but rest assured they do fulfill some pretty big roles in her sandbox. You are correct that Louise's Pokemon reflect her nature, so the Pokemon she gets will reflect that in turn.

 **Chronos0305:** No, actually. Same with Saito.

 **guest:** I love writing both stories, it's just that Hunters of Justice got a lot more attention recently for a few reasons. One, I write them with different teams, and the Outsiders team got hit with a whole bunch of real life, and obviously real life takes precedence. At the same time, Hunters of Justice at the time was getting to the end of a major arc so my focus was going to that, which didn't help with the schedule. Rest assured, I fully plan on finishing both stories, and we do not want another multi-month break between chapters.

 **Shogun lord poke burst:** No, actually. Louise herself, thanks to the Ultra Energy flowing from her body and her Void Magic caused the Mega Stone to view her as a keystone, which thereby caused the Mega Evolution. The keystone she now has is specially modified in order to prevent this from occurring in the future.

 **keybladelight:** Oh trust us, we plan on utilizing Galar in some way. But, given this is anime continuity, we're waiting until the next anime series comes out before we make any decisions. On a side note, Ash finally won the Pokemon League! Also, we're getting two protagonists in the next series, Ash and a guy named Gao, whom I'm guessing is based off Pokemon Go as his goal is to actually Catch Em All.

 **berrus-same:** Yep, Poke-Speech, even if it's a major part of the anime, it does not look good in written form in my opinion. Better to just have them make realistic animal noises instead. Besides, Pokemon are fully sapient, so I can easily use a different form of Poke-Speech to have them converse between each other with complete understanding.

 **Celestia's Paladin:** No, you misunderstood that. Poke-Earth French is Kalosian, while Galar is home to the original form of Unovan. What that difference is, exactly, is unknown to most people, but the two regions insist that they're completely different languages that just so happen to have a lot in common.

No, this is not me trying to cover for our original English equivalent being determined before actual Poke-Britain was revealed, why do you ask?

 **guest (2):** My apologies, I'll update the list on my profile whenever I get the chance.

That's it for this update. Once again, we are deeply sorry for the long wait, but we are finally back and we don't intend to stop writing Outsiders until the story is complete! See you all next time!


	49. Season 1, Episode 10, Chapter 5

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 10, Chapter 5**

[~][~]

"Just a little more, darling. We're almost there. Not much further," Karina Vallière muttered in her daughter's ear, seemingly unworried by the discomfort of her charge as she ran down the streets.

Louise had never known her mother to be chatty, but she had also never seen her truly flustered. Perhaps running at the mouth was a nervous tic? A sudden jolt sent searing pain cascading through her body, cutting Louise from her thoughts as she buried her head in her mother's chest, a few locks of frizzy hair brushing across her face as she did so. Odd. Karina's hair was always well-maintained, even when such effort would seem a waste of time. What would cause her mother to forsake that? Was it related to her presence here?

The world shifted. Sounds found themselves reduced to psychedelic lights as colors began to bleed together, muddying any meaning the ever-shifting sound-lights might have had. A cold, burning sensation spread outwards from the base of her spine, feeling almost word-for-word like the story one of her father's friends told of being burned alive.

" _You really want to hear the tale of my great humiliation?" the boisterous knight cried, a look of false affront clear on his continence. "Again?"_

" _Yes! We! Do!" the drunken men and women of the Centurion's old unit chorused._

Karina tore around a corner, a stream of citrine words dripping down her face. Noxious purples bloomed from Brennaraki's mouth.

" _Alright!" he cried in mock-defeat as the crowd cheered. "I'll tell my tale once more!" He drunkenly staggered over to one of the many maps lining the walls and unsheathed his saber, pointing it at a river a little ways into Germania. "Most of you remember our fight over the Rhine, but let me set the scene for the children!"_

Scarlet ticked and tocked from her mother's boots as she leapt over a crashed sedan, pearls of cobalt radiating from within her jacket.

" _I'm sure those Germanians were just as surprised to see us as we were to see them! Our orders were to retreat if we faced opposition – a well-trained corps of griffon knights being too valuable to lose, or something of that nature – and that wasn't even considering we were outnumbered almost forty to one!" The knight laughed, several others joining in at his exaggeration. "But we didn't retreat! And why was that!?"_

" _They had an elf!" Karina shouted._

" _Yes! They were driving an elf towards our fair Centurion's estate!"_

The elder rosecrown slid to a halt with a sapphire screech. Veritable rainbows of color jumped from the Fennekin as she struggled to keep up. Karina paused her argent diatribe to shout wreaths of verdant encouragement at the trailing fox before she took off, quicksilver falling from her lips once more.

" _Were anyone else telling this story, they would sing of how unyielding earth and unrelenting wind drove back the fel creature with naught but the aid of three brave men! But that's not the story you want to hear, is it!?" the knight shouted as a resounding "Nay!" shook the room. "Well! It pains me to my very soul to admit, but no sooner did the she-demon look at me than she engulfed Copperwing and I in a gout of flame! Being the level-headed water mage I was, I immediately drenched myself to smother the flames. Imagine my surprise when it did nothing!"_

" _We don't need to imagine!" an unseen man called out, as if on cue. "We all heard your screams!"_

Her mother stopped, glacial white clouding from her mouth. Her foot pattered out a rose staccato, like her body was filled with a nervous energy as she tried to regain her bearings. A wave of tarnished copper announced Brennaraki's panicked instruction as she motioned for the rosecrowns to follow her down increasingly-familiar streets. They weren't far, now.

" _Of course, you did!" the knight shouted jovially. "Even as I steered Copperwing towards the Rhine! Even as I could feel my flesh melt off my very bones! Even as my glorious mane burned away to nothing! I screamed! I screamed like my soul was being rent from my body! I put the fear of God and our Founder into the hearts of those kingless Germanians! And then I hit the water."_

 _Silence reigned for the briefest of moments._

The Pokémon center came into view, but its entrance was choked by a crowd. Karina didn't slow down, sending shouts of iridescent surprise flying as she shoved her way through, crimson babbling pouring from her mouth like so much blood.

" _Of course, it did nothing," he continued. "If her flames could resist the waters of a Triangle-Class Water mage, what hope did a mundane river have? But I had one trick up my sleeve: Bubble, a toddler's spell, barely even worthy of the title cantrip. And yet it saved both my life and that of Copperwing. The flames died. I had either been swept out of the elf's range or she believed me drowned. Eventually I climbed out of the river and flew back to camp, only to find that you all had beat me there! Centurion took one look at me, and you know what he said?"_

 _"'Ser Jerome, you look like you've been through Hell itself!'" her father interjected, the laughter of his comrades accompanying him. "And how did you respond?"_

Her mother ran into the lobby, rushes of rust quickly fading into the sound of an overtaxed air conditioner. The Center's nurses quickly got out of their way.

"' _That may be, Ser,'" Jerome said with a smile as he twirled his amethyst moustache, the only patch of hair on his scarred face, "'but I don't think you'll have to deal with any more rumors about a royal bastard in your unit!'"_

 _The room erupted into laughter._

"Louise, we're here," Karina softly muttered. "I need you to wake up."

"I… am…" Louise slowly croaked.

"How many spines? I can't measure out the dosage unless I know how much you have in you."

"T-three…" Louise murmured, bothered by her mother's unusual speech patterns.

"I'm going to give you the antivenom now," her mother said, her voice like a dam struggling to hold back a flood. "I need you not to panic once it takes effect."

"Y-you're... not… m-my… mother… are… you…?"

"My name is Athena," the woman said as she filled a syringe with liquid. "I gave you a package earlier today."

"O-oh…" Louise muttered, shuddering as she recalled how the assertive strawberry blond had all but backed her into a corner the last time they had met.

"Now hold still," Athena said, swabbing a spot on Louise's arm. "Toxapex neurotoxin reacts painfully with the antivenom, and with how much you have in you, this is certainly going to hurt a lot."

The needle pierced the rosecrown's skin. For a second nothing seemed to happen, then she felt as if every nerve in her body burst into flames. For the second time in less than an hour, she fell into blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

"I can't believe you lost her!" Saito yelled at the top of his lungs as he, Elizabeth, and Grant ran through the city, desperately trying to find Louise.

"You have no grounds to make such an accusation of me, especially when you literally just realized you lost your Pokédex," Elizabeth snapped back, her serene voice filled with enough venom to kill a man outright. "Every ounce of energy you spend spewing your anger at me is an ounce wasted."

Saito looked ready to retort, and made to do so, but Grant already heard enough.

"Both of you focus, now!" Grant barked an order, halting any further conflicts between the two. There was obvious bad blood between Saito and Elizabeth, but right now Grant couldn't care less. There were far more important things to worry about at the moment, including the fact that there appeared to be an injured girl suffering from neurotoxin-induced hallucinations running around the city in a panic. The only consolation Grant could find in this situation is that Cyllage finally began to come back under control.

To be sure, the effects of Flare's rioting could still be seen in the form of destroyed cars, broken storefronts, and shards of shattered concrete and stone. But at the same time, lined along those very same buildings were scores of police officers and trainers holding captured Flare grunts and admins. They were being held down by Pokémon, both in pristine and battered condition, yet all held a furious look on their faces. The members of team Flare were either nervous, terrified, or oddly calm. To Grant, the ones who remained calm seemed off. A few of them even had this knowing, smug look on their faces. They knew something, and he needed to find out what. But that was for later. Right now, they had a young woman to find.

"Here's a thought," Derflinger spoke up, catching Grant's attention. "Maybe she's at a Pokémon center? Wouldn't be the first time some tripped their way someplace safe."

"I really don't appreciate describing Louise's status as 'tripping through Cyllage,'" Saito pointed out with a frown, then shot Elizabeth a look. "Of course, had you gotten her out when she got _poisoned by a Toxapex,_ we wouldn't have about to worry about where she went!"

"Again, with the blaming me," Elizabeth snarled, stopping in place as emerald fires razed scarlet fields. "You have no grounds to make such claims against my honor. I _tried_ to get her to get out; I'm not stupid. I don't know how that little rose got those thorns, but she has them. She refused to leave due to her own stubborn pride, and by the time any of us realized how bad things had gotten, we didn't have a choice."

"Yet apparently, you had a choice to act in character…" Saito accused with a low growl and he walked away. Grant shot her a look then went over to the young boy. Now behind them, Elizabeth clenched her fist and slammed it into a nearby wall, suppressing a wince as the bones in her hand fractured just as easily as the brick it struck. Part of her – the roiling, malignant _knot_ that had only grown since her release from the hospital – wanted to scream right into his face, to repay him for all the _courtesies_ he had shown her. But she didn't. He wasn't worth it. How could he possibly understand what she and Louise had gone through? He wasn't even there.

She would need to get her hand looked at soon, though. It wouldn't do for it to heal improperly. Maybe…maybe Espirit would tolerate her long enough to do so.

Then, the three trainers heard Aile screech from above. The Fletchling was circling over them, trying to catch their attention. It wasn't hard to figure out that she had spotted something, and without saying a word they and the rest of their Pokémon followed Aile further into the city. Eventually, much to their relief, they found themselves in front of a hospital, a jumping Brennaraki waiting for them. They sprinted inside the building, carefully moving past the hospital staff and waiting patients, till eventually they stopped before a clerk.

"We're looking for our friend. Louise Vallière," Saito stated, worry on his face. That worry grew when the clerk looked at them with recognized alarm.

"Uh… Louise Vallière is in the intensive care ward for high levels of Toxapex venom in her system," she hastily revealed. Saito paled and Elizabeth felt her body slacken. Derflinger's eye narrowed in suspicion, as to the ancient Honedge the nurse seemed jumpy. But he was probably no better now that he thought about it. Flare had just attacked the city. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about her.

"But," the clerk continued, "luckily she was found by one of our nurses who administered antivenom in time. She'll be out for…a few hours…? Yes, a few hours."

An awkward silence followed her message.

"I can take you to the waiting room, if you like?" the clerk rushed to add.

"Yes, please," Saito begged. The clerk nodded, then opened the door for him to enter. After a moment, Elizabeth followed, but Grant unfortunately had to return to the city. He wanted to check on Louise, but his responsibilities demanded otherwise. Saito hardly noticed outside of a quick thank you, then silently made his way to the waiting room. Once there, he sat down and rested his elbows on his knees, bringing his hands to cover his chin. After a moment, Elizabeth sat down as well on the other side of the room, and both remained silent.

* * *

"Rise and shine, Miss Vallière. Rise and shine," an unfamiliar voice said, cutting through the cloying embrace of unconsciousness.

Slowly, ponderously, the rosecrown felt her senses return to her. The ever-present pain that had filled her world was noticeably absent. Not trusting herself to speak without stumbling over her words, Louise silently opened her eyes. She was in a small, well-lit hospital room. Athena sat directly opposite her, flanked by two unfamiliar nurses in monochrome uniforms.

"Well, she didn't display any signs of shock or confusion upon seeing us, so either it didn't take, or we can rule out the possibility of prosopagnosia," the leftmost nurse said, scribbling something down on a clipboard.

"She passed out almost as soon as the antivenom hit her bloodstream," Athena countered. "That wouldn't have happened if it didn't take. In fact—"

"We have more tests to go through if you don't want to cost us our accreditations," the rightmost nurse cut in, causing the other two to cringe in reproach. "So, please, Athena, I'm certain Nero will be just as willing to hear whatever tangent you were about to go on _after_ we are finished with the patient."

"As you wish, Juno," the strawberry blonde muttered, turning back to Louise. "Do we have your permission to perform the standard body of tests following exposure to…" she paused, frowning at the clipboard in her hands then turned to Juno. "Do I have to read the name?"

"Yes, you do. It's standard policy."

"Fine," she said, her posture drooping into a defined slouch as she sped through the boilerplate speech to find her place again, "...following exposure to poly… pathol… jaery…" Athena stopped reading, letting out a low growl, "Who wrote this?"

" _I_ did," Nero replied, affronted by the question.

"I can't read it," the taller woman snapped. "Why didn't you type this up?"

"I didn't have time!" Nero cried, "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we're swamped after that stunt Kami's brat decided to pull, and it certainly doesn't help that Versus and Crane will be out for blood if we let this whole mess interfere with their 'precious' match!"

"Nero, we have a patient," Juno evenly said. "That's enough."

"Oh, says you!" Nero slung back as Athena slumped forward, covering her ears with her hands.

"This is unprofessional behavior, Nero."

"Now you're harping about unprofessionalism?"

"Nero."

"Where was all that talk when—"

Athena stood up and grabbed Nero's wrist. "Outside. Now," she spat, her voice trembling like a warning sign of one of Louise's more explosive miscasts. "We need to talk."

Nero was silent as she was all but dragged out of the examination room. Athena paused before she shut the door, turning to Juno as her eyes practically vibrated with energy.

"I'll try not to take too long," she said. "Don't waste time for my sake." Then the door closed. A brief pause ensued, only broken by a beleaguered sigh.

"Sorry about that," Juno lamely said.

"Are they usually like that?" Louise asked, surprised at the unprofessional behavior the nurses were exhibiting.

"No, not usually. I blame the stress of the day's events," the nurse replied, picking up the discarded clipboard. "Moving on, are you ready to begin the tests?"

"Why are these tests necessary?"

"Excuse me?" Juno shot her a look.

"I don't mean to imply that I'm not going to take the tests," Louise hurried to clarify, "I just want to know their purpose."

"…That's certainly reasonable, considering the rarity of Toxapex in Kalos," Juno conceded. "To answer your question, due to the potency of the neurotoxin, there aren't many people willing to volunteer for a clinical trial to improve the antitoxins we have. As a result, anything you can find outside of the Aether Foundation's private vault comes with a veritable _arsenal_ of possible side-effects. Since such a large number of those side effects tend to be frustrating to deal with, prosopagnosia and colorblindness immediately spring to mind, we are required by law to perform these time-consuming tests every time we need to use one."

"Oh," Louise said, feeling somewhat guilty for asking. She shuffled around a bit, then nodded. "You may start."

"Thank you," Juno replied.

The two quickly slipped into a rhythm. Juno was clinical and efficient – the very image of a proper nurse. Louise, for her part, tried her best to comply with the tests as best she could, even when the instructions seemed strange to her. About fifteen minutes later, Athena reentered the room. The woman's uniform was noticeably more disheveled than when she had left, almost as if she had taken it off and had to quickly put it back on.

"Where's Nero?" the rosecrown asked before she could stop herself.

"She had something more important to do," Athena replied, the dam-like quality back in her voice.

"Moving on to the next test," Juno said before the conversation could continue any further. "Close your eyes, I'm going to need to cut a lock of your hair."

"Oh, okay," Louise said, complying despite her confusion. Three distinct snips flew across the quiet room.

"You can open them now," Athena said. The taller nurse held out a clipboard with three identical locks of hair placed neatly upon it.

"The clipboard in front of you holds a lock of hair from you, Athena, and myself," Juno read off. "By sight alone, pick yours from the lineup."

The rosecrown blinked. How was that possible? Athena was a blonde and Juno had… grey hair…? Wait. Something didn't feel right. Steeling her nerves, Louise looked Athena dead in the eyes, rosy pink meeting flinty grey. Not violet; grey. A shaking hand grabbed a lock of her hair and brought it up to her face. Grey. The hair slipped out of her hand, allowing her a clear view of her hand in all its drab greyness. Panicked, she swept her view across the room, achieving nothing but revealing more grey. She couldn't take it anymore. Juno's yelp of surprise barely registered to Louise as she bolted from the room. As she did, thoughts came spewing from the back of her mind as the dam burst.

What was she thinking then? Why did she run from that plaza? Auspice was close to the center of that explosion last she saw, why didn't she even try and see if she was injured? Her eyes burned as she remembered those _stupid, prideful_ boasts she had made to Elizabeth. Why did she insist so hard on staying?

She was nothing without her pride. No friends. No magic. No familiar. No future. Just a caged songbird to be sold to her future husband. And yet, time and time again, her pride had done nothing but _embarrass_ her. Her thoughtless oath from before the summoning rose to mind unbidden. She was being punished, wasn't she?

She burst into the lobby. A sea of grey met her. Why had she even hoped it would be different?

Strong arms wrapped her into an embrace. Athena slowly walked her over to one of the benches. Louise looked up. Drained of all color, the woman's uncanny resemblance to her mother and sisters was painfully obvious, but maybe that wasn't a bad thing. Maybe, for a moment, she could be in Cattleya's garden once more. Maybe she didn't have to bear this punishment alone.

Regardless of "maybes," the tears still fell.

* * *

For several hours, Saito, Elizabeth, and their Pokémon sat in silence in the waiting room. Neither of them felt any need to speak to each other, and both were trying their damnedest to simply ignore their existence entirety. For Saito, more than anything he couldn't understand Elizabeth's gall and her utter refusal to accept responsibility towards Louise's affliction. More than anyone else on the planet, Saito knew how stubborn Louise could be. After all, he had been travelling with her for months now. Of course, Saito knew why Louise was so stubborn, Elizabeth was right about that. Louise's pride was, at times, dictatorial, but at the same time Saito couldn't hate all of it. It was a source of strength to her, he just wished that she'd learn to keep in check.

Right now, though, the only thing he cared was whether or not Louise would be fine. To that end, he occupied his time by pouring over everything he could learn about Toxapex venom. He would have used his Pokédex to do so, but unfortunately, he had indeed lost his Pokédex somehow in all the chaos. Saito was ashamed of himself for not noticing until now, but he'd find it later. Luckily the waiting room had a desktop he could use to conduct his research, which the clerk was gracious enough to let him use.

From what little research he had gathered, it wasn't pretty. They were native to Alola, and weren't often spotted outside of that region, but they were infamous for being among the most toxic creatures on the planet. Up until recent decades, getting poisoned by one was almost a death sentence, or at the very least crippling to the victim. Luckily, the Aether Foundation, among other companies around the world, had made great strides in making effective treatments and antivenoms. They still had side effects, but nothing too outrageous.

A flash of light brought his attention momentarily towards the far end of the room. There he saw Esprit, the gentle Kirlia that she was, tending to Elizabeth's fractured hand. He scoffed, shook his head and turned away. Why Elizabeth felt the need to fracture her hand against a brick wall, Saito didn't even begin to guess at. Nor did he really care.

More minutes passed in solemn silence. Saito continued to scan his Pokédex, looking through various newsfeeds focusing on Cyllage. The situation was finally calming down, with well over a hundred Team Flare terrorists arrested along with many cell leaders, but Saito wasn't convinced this was the end of it. He, and many others, were convinced that this was merely a distraction. But a distraction for what?

Before he could even answer, the light above the waiting room door blinked green, drawing Saito's attention. He stood up, as did Elizabeth. Both were in rapt attention towards the door, then a nurse they didn't recognize opened it for them.

"Saito Hiraga?" she called out. Saito nodded, and the nurse nodded back as she flipped through a clipboard. "Louise Vallière's condition has stabilized. You can see her now, if you wish."

Saito didn't even say a word as he practically sprinted towards the door alongside his and Louise's Pokémon, brushing past the nurse and leaving Elizabeth behind. The verdette, meanwhile, looked towards her and pointed at herself.

"What about…" Elizabeth paused and gulped. As much as she wanted to check on the little rosecrown, right now she couldn't see herself going in there. "Is there a Raven Silverburgh?"

The nurse flipped through the clipboard, then nodded. "Yes, and she's in good condition as well. Please wait as I escort Mr. Hiraga to Ms. Vallière."

Elizabeth nodded, then sat back down as the door closed before her. Now, more than ever, she was alone.

* * *

The walk to Louise's room was farther from the waiting room than Saito expected. It was practically at the other side of the building. But, if he was being honest with himself, that was more of an inconvenience at most. When he finally found himself standing in front of Louise's hospital room, all thoughts of inconveniences fled his mind. Gently, Saito opened the door and found a despondent Louise sitting upright in her bed, starring blankly out of a nearby window. He couldn't see her face, but Saito knew instantly that she was upset. Their Pokémon entered the room, and once they were all inside Saito closed the door again. For a moment, there was only silence. None of them knew what to say, and only an awkward cough from Saito broke the silence. Unlike the silence he shared with Elizabeth, Saito didn't like this. Louise wasn't normally this quiet, and he knew something was wrong.

Finally, he had enough, and moved to speak.

"Louise," he began, "are you—"

"I left them," Louise interrupted, her head beginning to shake.

"What?" Saito asked, then Louise whipped her tear-stained face around towards him.

"I left them," she repeated, fighting back sobs. "I left my Pokémon behind… They got hurt because of me."

"No, they didn't," Saito insisted, grabbing a chair and pulling it towards her bed. "That was Team Flare, not you. You had nothing to do with this."

"They were there because of me!" Louise shouted, now openly crying. "Me and my stupid pride! I should have left, gone for help, but no! Instead, I got hurt, and when my Pokémon needed me most, I just left them!"

"Louise," Derflinger spoke up in an uncharacteristically calm voice, "you can't blame yourself for that. You were not in a right state of mind."

"You think I don't know that?!" Louise began to rant. "That doesn't make it okay! None of it makes it okay! Founder, my Pokémon could have died because of me!"

Louise choked slightly on her tears, her eyes turning red and puffy from her crying. Neither Saito nor the Pokémon in the room knew what to say, all at a loss for words, but Louise took that as permission to continue berating herself.

"You were right, Saito," Louise began, sniffling as a look of horror crossed Saito's face. "A person who can't protect their Pokémon…doesn't deserve to be a trainer… I don't deserve…"

She never got the chance to finish that sentence as a fluffy tail suddenly slapped itself across her face. Surprised, Louise looked down to see a teary Brennaraki looking up at her angrily. Before she could even ask her starter what she wanted, Brennaraki began to yip and bark. Almost immediately, Espirit began to psychically translate.

"' _Don't you dare finish that sentence,_ '" Espirit translated for Brennaraki. "' _Don't you dare. Louise, none of this was your fault. None of us blame you for what happened today. All of this was because of bad men and women doing vile things to good people, of which you are one. Without you, I'd be a glorified pet in some rich person's house, Esprit would be the prized possession of a loser, Aile would have eaten herself to death and Auspice would…Okay, I don't know what her deal would be, but you know what I mean!'"_

Quickly, Saito shot a look at the aforementioned Aile and Auspice, but neither seemed offended. To his surprise, Aile was nodding in agreement towards the fate Brennaraki had given to her. Louise, however, remained unconvinced.

"But I still—"

Brennaraki slapped her again. "' _Don't finish that sentence, Louise. I beg you._ " Now Brennaraki was crying, as was the rest of her Pokémon. Even the stoic Auspice had tears in her eyes, despite only knowing them for a short time.

"I… I don't…" Louise began, then felt Brennaraki curl up in her arms. She was followed by a flutter of wings as Aile gently flew over to rest on her shoulder. With a pop, Espirit teleported over and gently hugged Louise's chest, and finally Auspice walked over and rested her head on Louise's legs. Louise starred at all of them in shock. Tears began to well in her eyes, and finally she couldn't take it anymore as she took Brennaraki into her arms and held her tight.

"I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry…" Louise wept, and she felt her Pokémon embrace her tighter.

"' _We're sorry, too,_ '" Espirit translated for all of them, and no other sounds were formed outside of gentle crying. Saito remained silent, content to let his friend and her team comfort each other. This wasn't the place for him to interject, and he didn't plan to.

Several minutes passed as Louise hugged her Pokémon tightly. Her crying slowly subsided, going from brutal sobs to pitiful whimpers, until finally she broke away from the hugs. She wiped her nose on her bedsheet, then turned to look at Saito with puffy red eyes.

"I'm sorry, Saito. I know what you're going to say, and you're right. I should have left, and I'm sorry that I didn't."

Saito didn't feel the need to beat around the bush, and he knew neither did Louise, so he nodded.

"Yes, you should have left when the Toxapex stung you," he said, crossing his arms. Rather than feel offended, Louise calmly nodded back.

"I know that your pride is important to you, Louise," Saito continued, "but I don't want to see my best friend get hurt because of it."

"…I know," Louise agreed, her voice filled with self-pity. With a clenched fist, she looked down. "My stupid pride has been nothing but trouble to me and all of us."

"I wouldn't say that," Saito interject, much to Louise's surprise. With a warm smile, Saito leaned forward. "Louise, I'm going to be honest with you. Truthfully, you are one of the most hardheaded, stubborn women I've ever met in my life, and your pride does get frustrating at times. But, for as hardheaded as you are, I've never met a more motivated person than you. You take what the world throws at you, and rather than take it lying down, you get back up and throw it back into life's face. You're pride motivates you to get stronger, to improve yourself, and it drives you forward. Hell, you were literally tossed into an alien world, and within a few weeks you've already decided that you wanted to become champion of the Pokémon League."

"Only after you pointed it out to me," Louise recalled, but Saito merely threw his arms to the side.

"That only proves my point. You knew about the Pokémon League for less than a day, and you not only decided that you wanted to give it a shot, you actively worked to make it a reality despite the hardships such a goal demands. You, a girl with no knowledge of Pokémon, stranded on an alien world striving for the greatest of prizes rather than wallow in self-pity and break down. That came from your pride, Louise, and that's admirable."

Louise stared at Saito, who took her silence as permission to come closer to her bed.

"Louise, you are my best friend. Nothing will ever change that, and I will support you with whatever you wish to do. I'm not asking you to abandon your pride. All I'm asking is that you don't let it lead you to harm. Please."

Saito begged. At first, Louise was silent. Then tears formed at the edge of her eyes, and without warning she gave Saito a hug. For a moment he was surprised, then he smiled warmly and hugged her back. She was sobbing now, and Saito felt tears course down his shirt, but the didn't care as he gently patted her back.

"There, there," he soothed, softly chuckling to herself. Louise then broke from the hug, tears still in her eyes as she wiped them away on her sleeve, then for the first time in hours she smiled.

"Thank you, Saito," Louise said. "You're my best friend, too, and I'm sorry for making you worried. I promise you, I won't let this happen again. I swear on my life."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Derflinger added, bringing everyone's attention to him. Seizing his chance, he continued. "Listen, Louise. I've been around for a very, very long time. I've seen countless brave, courageous men and women let their pride consume them, and I don't want to include you in their number. There's no shame in retreating, just as there's no shame in picking your fights. Those who think otherwise are usually the first to go."

Louise contemplated the Honedge's words, then nodded in agreement. "Okay, I will."

"Thank you," Saito stated with a smile, then leaned back in his chair.

* * *

"Well, it certainly took you long enough," Raven said as Elizabeth entered the room.

"The nurses stuck me in a waiting room and forgot about me," the verdette huffed. "I didn't even know you were here until a few minutes ago."

"Woah, woah," the raven-haired woman chirped as she walked towards a window. "No need to get all snippy with me. What's got your feathers all ruffled?"

"Idiots who would rather blame me than own up to their own failings," Elizabeth groused as she moved to follow Raven, "among other things."

"Mind sharing?"

"I'd rather not," she replied, green briefly overtaking red before falling behind once more. She shook her head. "I'm no medical expert, but shouldn't you still be in bed?"

"According to them? Yes," she replied, gesturing at the hospital bed. "According to me? No."

"Erina said you were frozen solid," Elizabeth countered, raising an eyebrow.

"A little frostbite never hurt anyone. Besides," Raven chuckled as she removed her shirt, revealing pale, undamaged skin, "no lasting damage was sustained."

"Really, Raven?" the verdette said, averting her eyes. "Are you sure that hypnosis didn't leave any lingering effects?"

"Xatu checked me over as soon as I woke up," Raven replied. "If anyone tampered with me, he would have seen it."

The two lapsed into silence after that. It was calming, especially after the day they both had.

"You know?" Raven suddenly said, holding back a smirk. "Even if I was trying to seduce you, you're already too dead-set on someone else."

"Raven!" Elizabeth cried as a luminous blush lit up her face.

"Hey, no need to feel bad," the older woman continued. "If I've gauged the competition right, you're her best choice by far. Besides there's no shame in being attracted to an older woman."

"How can you say that? You don't even know her," Elizabeth weakly replied, not processing the latter half of Raven's reply. "Or me…" she softly added.

"Ah, there I've done it again," Raven muttered, tilting her head down as her face quickly fell. "Why don't you ever _think_ before you open your mouth?"

Silence reigned once more.

"I'm… not the best at this whole… talking thing," Raven said at length. "I know this sounds cliché, but, well… _ergh_... Erina and I have known each other long enough that we just... tend to fall into the same old ruts and scripts whenever we talk, and I usually can't work up the... intent... to break from those whenever I try to talk to anyone else. Even just this is hard, since I'm fighting against habit telling me to either get back on script or let things fall to silence... Does that make sense…?"

"I… I think I understand what you mean," Elizabeth replied sullenly. "Every time I try to do something, I always find some way to screw it up. The current trend seems to be that someone just ends up hurt whenever I try to help, whenever I try to prove that I'm not just a burden. That I'm not just some parasite."

The verdette felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Raven giving her a sad smile.

"I won't pretend to know who you are, but I might have some insight into that," she said. "Maybe you remember this: About eleven years ago, your parents threw a party. I don't remember what the occasion was, but anyone who was anyone was going to be there, so Donatello Versus, then a new player in the circuits of PWE, decided to take his trainers along. There were only four of us back then: Diego, Erina, myself, and, Primera Concerto, I think. She didn't last very long, and I didn't really keep up with her. But I digress. Diego was off mingling with the masses, Erina and Primera were trying to find ways to kill each other without causing too much of a ruckus, and I was the odd one out, contemplating my life choices while I tried to get drunk off of the weak alcohol your parents had provided as refreshments. Then along came a young girl: the daughter of our gracious hosts, you."

"I think I remember this," Elizabeth replied as the hazy memories came back. "Nobody was paying me any attention, so I was excited when you actually listened to me. I don't really remember what I did after that, I have vague recollections of leading someone through the house and later returning to the party just in time to see two women start some complex dance routine."

Raven chuckled, "That was Erina and Primera; from what I understand, they got fed up with indirect attempts at harm and decided to just fight each other under the thin veil of it being a dance. I think Erina dyed her hair blue back then, so it's understandable that you didn't recognize her. Also, you did lead me around your house. You filled almost two hours of my time with a very enthusiastic tour of your house while you regaled me with stories about your future as a Pokémon Master."

"I was different then."

"You don't have to be. You can still be that same cheerful girl I met all those years ago."

Elizabeth turned away. Phantom tassels wrapped tight around her arms as silent tears rolled down her face.

" _I had a nightmare last night..."_

"You don't know how much I wish that were true."

* * *

"Colorblind, huh?" Derflinger noted as he hovered in the corner of a room.

"For at least a month. At least, that's what the nurses said," Louise clarified.

"Could've been worse," Saito added. "I read up on Toxapex-poisoning while in the waiting room. Nasty stuff, but luckily things are better now than what they used to be. At least the colorblindness is only a temporary side-effect of the antivenom."

Louise nodded, then leaned back in her raised bed. "Still, that's not the worst part. They won't let me leave for a few days, at least. I mean, I understand why, but it's still annoying."

"Now you know how I felt after I got stung by that Beedrill," Saito joked, and Louise gave her friend a flat look.

"Saito…I think getting poisoned by a Toxapex is _slightly_ different," she pointed out, but Saito only smiled and shook his head.

"Same category."

"… Fair enough," Louise acquiesced, then crossed her hands over her belly. "Still, at least now things are getting back together."

"Yeah, Cyllage is finally calming down," Saito agreed, walking over to the window to look outside. A heavy silence descended over the group, and both trainers frowned.

"I still don't get it," Louise finally admitted. "What was the goal?"

"I have no idea, and frankly that scares me," Saito said. He scrunched his face, then turned to face Louise. "But there's nothing we can do about it now."

"Yeah…" Louise despondently frowned and clenched her fists. She sighed and shook her head, reaching over for the remote. "At least it's over, and I don't think I have to do any more of those stupid tests…"

"Oh, I heard about those." Saito winced in sympathy. "I mean, I understand why they do it, but I can't imagine those were comfortable."

"They weren't," Louise admitted with a slight grimace. "They checked my eyes, hearing, heartrate, blood, everything they could think of to make sure that the antivenom didn't mess me up in some way."

"Good thing that it didn't—" Saito paused. "Wait, blood? They checked your blood?"

"Yeah, said it was to make sure no toxins remained," Louise replied. A confused frown crossed Saito's face while Derflinger narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"What else did they test?" Derflinger asked.

"Um, let's see… They tested my hair, the skin around the injection points, and some saliva before they were called away. Haven't seen them since."

Saito and Derflinger shot each other a look, then looked back at Louise.

"Were they just being extra thorough?" Saito asked with a raised eyebrow. Louise raised hers back.

"No, they said those were standard procedures all over the world."

"Ten years ago, they were," Saito clarified. "Back then, the antivenom was still experimental. Now it's refined enough to where they only need to check basic vitals."

Now Louise was confused, her hand pressing against the remote accidentally. "Then why did they-?"

Suddenly, Louise's hand accidentally pressed against the remote's power button, and the TV sprung to life. It was already set to a news channel, where they saw Malva standing in front of the ruined plaza where Coda made her final stand. She spoke into the microphone she was holding, but none of the occupants of the room cared about what she was saying. Instead, they were focused on the banner streaming below her image.

'Breakout at Cyllage Prison. Hundreds of Team Flare Members Escaped.'

In silent horror, both Saito and Louise finally understood the answer to the question they had been asking all day. So focused on the TV, only Derflinger noticed as several police cars pulled up in front of the Pokémon Center, where a remorseful Nurse Joy escorted the officers inside.

* * *

Maxwell Fletcher was pleased with himself. Very much pleased, if he was being honest. As his rescued men and women were organized into smaller groups, Maxwell gave himself a mental pat on the back. Operation: FLASH MOB was a complete success. In exchange for the loss of dozens of weaker Flare cells from across the region, he had managed to break out several of the most hardened, experienced members of their entire disassembled organization. Mostly from his cell, as well as several others who had proven themselves to be capable believers.

"It's all coming together," he said to himself, then he heard a scoff come from his side.

"I still kinda wish you'd let me teleport out some of the more interesting people," Coda groused. "Despite my saying that our losses were within acceptable bounds, we still lost a lot of potentially valuable operatives and true believers to what was essentially bad luck. For instance, Aki and Robin Sherwood could have expedited our search for a new compound if they weren't waiting for some Kangaskhan court in their paper mache cells."

Maxwell shook his head as he walked over.

"Young Coda, sacrifices were to be expected for our success. Unfortunate, but expected. No need to wallow on lost opportunities, especially when the plan worked," he insisted. "Besides, the rebuilt Team Flare has no need of failures and weaklings."

"Yeah, yeah. I know," Coda replied, then hopped off the log she had been sitting on. She stretched, finally rid of the gaudy outfit she had been wearing all day. "What's our next move?"

"Right now, we lay low," Maxwell explained. "We won a great victory today, but if we move too hastily, we run the risk of overextending ourselves. Lysandre's impatience is what felled him, and we will not fall into that same trap."

"So, we're just going to do nothing?" Coda accused, but Maxwell shook his head.

"Not at all. I've already arranged for some of the more successful cells to meet with us at a secret location while we plant false leads across the region. As the authorities stumble around in the dark, we will accumulate more and more power until finally nothing will be able to stop us."

"Who are these cells, might I ask?" Coda asked, intrigued. For as much apprehension she held towards him when they first met, so far Coda was finding that working with Maxwell Fletcher was becoming a boon for her and her entire organization.

That being said, she still found his cryptic chuckles to be annoying, and she pouted in frustration.

"You'll meet them in due time, I assure you. Right now, they don't want to be named, in case they decide to not to accept my offer."

"But they will," Coda finished, and Maxwell Fletcher shot her a wicked grin.

"Oh, they most certainly will."

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here's the latest chapter of Outsiders! Team Flare's arc in Season 1 is now officially complete, with their first true victory of the story. Don't expect any major developments from them for the forseeable future, at most a Team Rocket-esque encounter involving an isolated cell that is much more lighthearted and would occupy only part of a single chapter. Still, some very important things happened in this chapter, especially for Louise.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **Guest (1)** : True, but we already have a plan for Louise's last two Pokemon. What they are, you'll have to wait and see.

 **Vein Bloodborne:** Glad you liked the chapter so much, and yes we are not taking suggestions at this time. I hope you understand.

 **keybladelight:** We'll be delving into Halkegenia eventually, it's just that right now our focus is on Louise in Kalos. And yeah, I'm happy for Ash. Given how our story takes place during SuMo (Anime), we'll probably reference this is some capacity.

 **.549:** Yeah, whether the drugs made her actually see Celebi and Mew for real or if they were just illusions is intended to be ambiguous. Whichever is funnier, although the situation as a whole is meant to be really bad. The neurotoxin is extremely potent, and we wanted to showcase that.

 **KiroZen:** You were correct, that was not Karin. And yeah, Auspice could have done worse. One of the things we want to showcase is that, when it comes to battles against criminals, the heroes are far less constrained, and brutality such as this helps to showcase this.

 **Komodo23:** Glad to be back as well! We never intended for last chapter's wait to be this long, but we don't intend to let that happen again. Thank you, though, for understanding. Ultimately, as much as I enjoy writing fanfiction, it is a hobby, and real life always takes precedence.

 **Celestia's Paladin:** That's certainly one interpretation of the difference! And you're welcome. As cute as they are, Pokemon are still dangerous, and we wanted to showcase that.

That's all for this update. See you all next time!


	50. Season 1, Episode 11, Chapter 1

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 11, Chapter 1**

[~][~]

Saito and Louise stared in silent shock at the television. Every news channel in the region, as well as several from overseas, were stating the same thing: the Cyllage City Prison had a mass breakout involving hundreds of Team Flare operatives. It all seemed to click into place.

"Those clever bastards…" Derflinger muttered. Louise and Saito shot him a look, but Derflinger looked them right back straight in the eye. "Don't give me that. You were both wondering exactly what they were doing attacking Cyllage, and now we know. They attacked the city to divert resources from the prison so they could stage a breakout. A classic distraction so they could nab the real prize."

Louise scrunched her face, then looked back at the TV. "So, this was their plan all along. They attacked Cyllage not despite it being an extremely visible action, but because of it. Everyone was so focused on stopping them here they didn't think to check elsewhere. As loathe as I am to admit it," Louise sighed and shook her head, "the sword is right. It was brilliant."

"Wait, hold on," Saito interjected, "they lost more people today than they gained from the breakout. How was that brilliant?"

"The people they lost, Saito, were likely considered expendable by their leadership," Derflinger explained, harkening back to centuries of experience. "People who they felt were weak, uncontrollable, or other such undesirables, whereas the people in the prison were likely experienced veterans."

"Quality over quantity," Louise added, crossing her arms and leaning back into her raised bed.

"Yeah, well…" Saito paused, trying to think of ways to further his argument, then snapped his fingers. "The publicity. Police were already after the remnants of Flare before this. Now, undoubtedly a lot more people and resources are being thrown into finding them."

"Bingo," Derflinger agreed, causing Saito and Louise to look at him in mild confusion. "Don't get me wrong, the plan itself was smart. But here's something you need to realize about criminals and terrorists and what-not. They usually aren't the best at long term planning. Sure, they might lay low for a while, wait for the heat to die down, but by doing this they've made themselves public enemy number one. They hurt a lot of people today, and people won't forget that. Team Flare might have won the battle, but if they keep doing things like this, they'll lose the war. Back in the day, there were many teams of bandits, some of them acting exactly like the modern Team Flare. Every single one of them were destroyed, partly because of their own hubris."

Louise and Saito looked at Derflinger as a silence fell over them. The more they thought about it, the more it made sense and they came around to his way of thinking. Derflinger noticed this and nodded by moving his hilt up and down inside his sheath.

"So, don't put yourselves down, 'kay? We lost here, and it sucks. But, don't let this defeat control what comes next. Next time Flare makes a move, people will be ready."

"We'll be ready," Louise added. Saito shot her a look, and she felt a blush creep over her. "Only if we're in the immediate area, mind you! I don't intend to seek them out."

Saito stared at her for a moment longer, then nodded. "That's what I figured. It's not like we're wanting them to keep popping up around us."

He got up out of his seat and stretched, then turned to face Louise. "Well, I'm going to go downstairs and get us some of that delicious hospital food. Want anything?"

"Hmm," Louise hummed, tapping her chin. "I can't think of anything now. How about I text you when I can?"

"Eh, about that…" Saito nervously chuckled, scratching his cheek. Louise stared at him, confused as to his reaction, then her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Saito… Where's your Pokédex?" she asked. Saito laughed half-heartedly, feeling everyone's eyes on him.

"I, uh… I lost it," he whispered, hoping that Louise couldn't hear him. Unfortunately to the Unovan boy, she did. Louise breathed in softly, then closed her eyes and counted to ten.

"When did you lose it?" she asked.

"…at the beginning of the attack."

"You mean to tell me that, for the entire time, you didn't have your Pokédex? The only way for us to communicate?"

"…yes…"

"By the Founder…" Louise grumbled and rubbed her forehead. "Okay, go talk to Nurse Joy. Maybe she found it. _Then_ you can get us some food, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," Saito said as he hurried out of the room. She and the Pokémon watched him go, and when the doors closed behind him, she rolled her eyes.

"Honestly…" Louise sighed then turned back to the tv. Despite its morbid nature, she couldn't help but feel enraptured by it. Her thoughts drifted back to her home country, how similar events would have likely played out. Had bandits attacked a village, it would have taken days for news to reach the capital, weeks for the rest of the country to follow suit. Here, people knew of it in a matter of minutes. It was astounding, really. A lot of things in Kalos were, the more she learned about them.

In the corner, Derflinger watched Louise with a careful eye. She remained slightly oblivious to what was going on outside of this room, but not him. A dark, sickly feeling was building in his gut, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions. Or perhaps he simply didn't want to consider the possibility? Sometimes, it was hard to figure out which was which.

' _I hope I'm wrong. I really, really hope I'm wrong,_ ' he thought to himself, despite knowing it was futile.

* * *

"Geez, a lot of cops here," Saito noted as he made his way down to the Pokémon Center's reception desk. Indeed, there were many uniformed officers prowling the halls, many of them wearing riot gear. It made traversing the halls difficult, often having to shimmy around groups of officers who were too busy to notice him. Manectrics and Arcanines were sniffing out rooms and various small items, searching for something or someone. Saito had no idea what was going on, but he figured he'd find out after he got his Pokédex back.

"Uh, hello? Nurse Joy?" he called out once he finally got to the desk. To his confusion, it was empty. Saito waited patiently regardless, tapping his fingers against the desk while swiveling his head around to find her. When he didn't see anyone, Saito leaned over the desk to get a better look. Again, he saw no one, and he was starting to get worried.

In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he noticed a suspicious lack of staff. Where was everyone? The only people he could see were patients, trainers, and police officers. Not any clerks, not any nurses, and especially not Nurse Joy. They were here when he arrived, and that was only a few hours ago. Something was wrong, and he didn't like it.

A thought began to build in his head, thinking back to the tests Louise said the nurses made her go through. Those tests were very extensive. Suspiciously so. Before he could ruminate on it any further, however, he heard a flurry of steps as Nurse Joy finally entered the room. Her hair was slightly frazzled, and her white apron and pink dress had slightly brown stains on the front in splotches. Saito chalked it up to dirt and sighed in relief.

"I am so sorry," Nurse Joy said as she settled in, dusting off her apron.

"Everything alright?" Saito asked, seeing the nervous look on Nurse Joy, but she shook her head.

"No, no. Everything's fine, was just helping the police with an investigation." Nurse Joy settled into her professional stance. "How can I help you?"

Saito nodded, then stepped away from the desk. "Yeah, I'm afraid that I lost my Pokédex here before the…you know. Did anyone…?"

"Oh, yes actually! One of our staff found it and turned it in after everything calmed down," Nurse Joy explained as she walked into the back room. She rummaged through a box, and a moment later she came out with a blue Unovan-style Pokédex.

"Yes, that's it," Saito called out as he held out his hand.

"You need to be more careful about these," Nurse Joy chastised as she placed the device in Saito's hands. "Your Pokédex contains your trainer id, bank information, data about your Pokémon, and more. Who knows what someone could've done with one of these?"

"I know, I know," Saito replied, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "My friend already laid into me about it."

"Ms. Vallière, right?" Nurse Joy asked. Saito nodded, and the nurse nodded back. "How is she? Her toxicity levels were fairly high."

"Yeah, it was pretty bad. Wasn't helped by…certain individuals." Saito frowned, scrunching his face, but he shook those thoughts aside. "But she's better now. We got to her in time."

"Good, good," Nurse Joy breathed out. "Were there any complications post-treatment?"

"Colorblindness," Saito answered. "Speaking of, where would we-?"

"I'll write you a prescription right now," Nurse Joy preemptively answered, pulling out a slip of prescription paper. Saito happily took it, then prepared to walk towards the center's food court. Then he stopped and turned to face Nurse Joy.

"Hey, uh, quick question. About the whole Toxapex thing," he called out, catching Nurse Joy's attention.

"Uh, yes? What do you need to know?" she asked, suddenly gaining a nervous disposition. Saito's eyes narrowed, and he stepped over to her.

"Is this center overly-stringent about how they test the effects of Toxapex antivenom?" he asked. "Because, from what my friend told me, they used standards phased out a decade ago. Kind of excessive, actually. Why was that?"

Nurse Joy didn't answer, but Saito could see her face begin to pale. He narrowed his eyes in response, and that dark thought from before came springing back up. She knew something, something that she didn't want to talk about. Normally he would have left it at that, but right now that 'something' concerned his best friend. He had a right to pry.

"Nurse Joy, why do I get the feeling you don't want to talk about this?" he accused, narrowing his eyes towards her increasingly nervous expression.

"I, uhh…" she stammered, causing Saito's suspicion to increase. "I'm not at liberty to say."

"Really, now?" Alarm bells rang loudly in Saito's head. Each passing moment was fuel to the fire, and Saito began to feel anger bubbling from within his gut. He prepared to step forward again, only to feel a firm hand clasp atop his shoulder. Surprised, Saito looked up to see a familiar face looking down on at him from behind a pair of sunglasses.

"Hello, Mr. Hiraga. Fancy seeing you again so soon," Agent Smith greeted. "Let's talk."

* * *

Part of Louise wondered what Saito was going to get her. She was starving, to be honest with herself, and after spending a few months in Kalos she was beginning to get a taste for Kalosian cuisine. Fast food, too, not that she liked to admit that. She knew that it was bad for her, but it tasted so good.

"I hope it's a burger," she said aloud.

"Oh, burgers would be nice," Derflinger replied, a noticeable glee to his voice. Louise, however, gave him a look.

"You can't even eat anything," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but I can smell. Burgers smell nice."

"…True." Louise nodded. She could accept that. The smell of crackling burgers over the grill was always a nice smell to hang over the camp at night. "Ooh, and fries!"

Brennaraki perked up at the mention of fries. Her head swiveled, trying to find the snack in question, but to her disappointment there was none. She narrowed her eyes and gave Louise a frown before going back to sleep, grumbling under her breath. Noticing this, Louise couldn't help but chuckle. Her starter always did like having fries fed to her.

Louise then heard the door handle jiggle, and with a smile she turned to face it. That smile evaporated almost instantly, as instead of seeing Saito enter the room carrying food, it was instead Saito being escorted inside by an eerily calm Agent Smith. Without saying a word, the two men entered the room, with Agent Smith closing the door behind him. A heavy silence fell over the group as Louise and her now-completely awake Pokémon team stared at Saito and Agent Smith.

"Uh, Agent Smith," Louise finally said.

"Ms. Vallière," Smith replied. He took stock of the room, then settled back on her. "Toxapex venom. Nasty stuff. I trust you're alright?"

"Yes, actually. Can't see colors, but other than that, I can't really complain," she admitted. That was only possible thanks to over an hour of talking with Saito and was still a sore subject with her. But, given who Agent Smith worked for, Louise figured being professional was of the utmost importance.

"Good, good. Glad everything's alright." Agent Smith walked towards the window, opening the blinds slightly with his fingers. Another silence fell over the room, and neither Saito nor Louise knew exactly what to say. Finally, Derflinger had enough and coughed.

"So, Mr. Scary-Agent-Dude," Derflinger joked, causing Saito and Louise to shoot their heads towards the Honedge with a look that screamed 'what are you doing,' "what's all this about?"

"This," Smith replied, nonplussed to the fact that the Honedge was speaking, "is about what just transpired. What has _been_ transpiring, in fact."

Smith turned around, simultaneously staring both Saito and Louise in the eyes. "For the past few months, a series of incidents has transpired that has caught both my and my superior's attention. A Beedrill Mega Evolving without the presence of a keystone in Santalune Forest. A raid for Pokémon Eggs against the Rivière Daycare involving a resurgent and organized Team Flare. The attempted theft of Pokémon fossils and fossil revitalization equipment from Ambrette Town. Finally, we have a majority of known Flare cells, previously working in isolated groups, banding together to amass an attack on Cyllage City, causing millions of Pokédollars in damages just to stage a breakout of the nearby prison complex. Do you know what every single one of those events had in common?"

Agent Smith took off his sunglasses, boring them deep into the young trainers' eyes. Both Saito and Louise already knew the answer, and Smith knew they did, too.

"They all involved you," he finished, placing his hands on the rim of Louise's bed to push himself up. "Once is an accident. Twice is coincidence. Three times is a pattern, and Arceus forbid there's a fourth. So, I dug in. Gathered the available information, and what I find concerning you two was very interesting. Mr. Hiraga here is nothing special. Your typical run of the mill Unovan trainer who just started late. Got a special exemption to normal League rules to transfer his first gym badge over when his family moved, due to the League being desperate, but otherwise pretty plain. Normal, really."

Part of Saito felt insulted by what Smith was saying, but when Smith turned his head to stare at Louise, any complaints he might have had evaporated.

"You, Ms. Vallière, on the other hand, are very interesting. Showed up completely out of the blue a little over three months ago in Lumiose under the care of Augustine Sycamore, working as his intern. Prior to that date, there were no birth certificates, no medical records, schools transcripts. Nothing. At all. At first, I thought maybe she was a recent immigrant. After she, she does tell people she came from another country, so I reached out to various connections I had across the world. Asked for information pertaining to you. Same story. No records of any kind. It's as though you just showed up out of nowhere, in an alley in Lumiose, in the middle of the night."

By now, Louise's skin had gone completely pale. Her hands were shaking, her mouth felt dry, and her eyes were narrowed into pinpricks. At the same time, her Pokémon were taking protective stances before her and both Saito and Derflinger were rigid, staring into Agent Smith's head. No one said a word, and finally Louise gulped.

"What… What are you trying to imply?" she asked, her stomach threatening to burst.

"I'm implying, Ms. Vallière, several things," Smith coldly replied. "None of which are good for you. So, here's what's going to happen. You, and your friend, are going to tell me everything. Otherwise, I get some of the men and women of the Cyllage Police Department to have you two arrested on suspicions of being an illegal alien and connection to the Team Flare attacks."

Saito and Louise stared at Agent Smith in horror. Both of them knew that he was being serious, but neither of them knew how to respond. Their silence, apparently, wasn't getting on Smith's nerves. Indeed, he simply looked at both of them with an eerily calm expression, patiently waiting for a response.

"You…can't be serious?" Saito finally said with an offended tone. "You…think we're members of Team Flare?"

"Possibly," Smith admitted, turning his attention to Saito.

"But…we fought against them! Stopped them, even!"

"For which the people of Kalos are grateful," Smith shot back. "But I have to wonder why you were there each and every time something happened."

"Coincidence! You think we _wanted_ to have to fight Team Flare?!" Saito was yelling now, completely and utterly infuriated at the baseless accusations thrown against him and his friend. "And what gives you the bright idea that, after everything we've been though, we could _possibly_ be members of Team Flare?!"

"For all I know, you two could be part of rival cells to the ones headed by Maxwell Fletcher and Joshua Carnegie. Your efforts against them could simply be attempts to ensure your independence."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Saito yelled. Smith didn't care, coldly staring into Saito's infuriated and reddened face.

"Keep yelling. That'll prove your innocence." He turned back to Louise. "So, what's it going to be, Ms. Vallière?"

Louise stared into Smith's eyes. Her body was shaking now, but whether it was from anger or fear, she didn't quite know. Probably both if she was being honest. Before she could even answer, however, Smith nodded and stood upright, putting his sunglasses back on. He seemed to have taken her silence as her answer and was now walking out the door.

He was going to have them arrested. Arrested for things they didn't do. Red-hot fury built inside her, and just as Smith prepared to open the door, likely sealing their fate, Louise had enough.

"Wait!" she shouted, causing the INTERPOL agent to stop in his tracks. "How dare you. How dare you baselessly accuse me and my friend of wrongdoing. We have done nothing wrong, our honor is unstained, so for you to come in here threatening to have us arrested for something we didn't do is beyond the pale."

Smith said nothing, instead nodding to himself and turning to face her. "There's a quick way to prove me wrong."

Louise scowled at the man. In that moment, she didn't think she ever hated someone so strongly. Yet, whether she liked it or not, he had her in a vice grip. Either she gives in to his outrageous demands and give him what he wanted, something her pride demanded that she not do, or she refuses to comply and gets herself and Saito arrested. Every part of her being was yelling at her to spit in his face, to refuse him, but then she looked at Saito. She saw the righteous fury in his eyes, but behind them she saw fear. He was scared, not for him but for her. Could she truly live with herself if, by sticking to what her pride demanded, her friend hurt? She looked at her Pokémon to see the same expression on their faces. Could she dare to let herself be separated from them, to let them down after everything they've been though?

After a moment, she found that she couldn't. Louise sighed, looked down, and turned back to face Agent Smith.

"Alright," she finally said, sharp steel ringing in her voice. "I'll tell you everything."

Agent Smith turned around, not noticing Saito's and Derflinger's shocked expressions. He nodded towards her, then sat down on a chair. Smith was patiently waiting for her to continue, tapping his fingers together. Louise starred him down, breathing in and out repeatedly, then began to talk.

She told him everything. How she wasn't born in Kalos, nor any other country on Earth, for instead she was born into a noble family in the kingdom of Tristain from another world. When he expressed disbelief of that, she showed him a small taste of her magic by Saito showing the agent video footage they had shot on his Pokédex during her practice sessions with magic. Derflinger's testimony was further proof of it, which naturally raised the question of why she was here. Louise explained the concept of the familiar summoning ritual from her homeworld, how her magic tried to pull a resident of Earth much to Arceus' ire. Her explanation of her time in the Hall of Origin was, admittedly, the hardest part for him to believe, but thanks to the assistance of Esprit and Maindo, who was reluctantly dragged in, he was able to see the encounter. Saito was, too, and he had to admit it was a breathtaking sight. Awe inspiring, really.

After that, she continued on to explain how she was dropped off in an alleyway inside Lumiose in the middle of the night. Professor Sycamore happened to come across her then offered his home to her. She explained how she met Brennaraki, how he gave her the Beedrillite to deliver to Viola in Santalune, how her natural Void magic intermixed with the energy her body absorbed during her trek through Ultra Space. That mixture confused the Beedrillite, causing it to think, for lack of a better word, that she _was_ the keystone, hence the spontaneous Mega Evolution.

"After that, I decided to continue travelling. That winning the Pokémon League was the best way for me to get home. Every time we've come across Team Flare has been nothing more than a coincidence. We went to the Rivière Daycare to sightsee, only to have to fight for our lives. Saito and I were coming back from dinner when Auspice led us to the Ambrette Fossil museum, and I was stupid enough to run in without waiting for the police. I don't even have to explain what happened here. We were just as surprised as everyone else," Louise finished explaining. "Agent Smith, I don't know if you believe me or not, and frankly I don't really care. About you or your opinion. But I'm telling the truth."

Agent Smith said nothing, interlocking his hands into a pyramid as he absorbed and contemplated everything Louise had revealed to him. His mind was running a mile-a-minute, and it was only thanks to years upon years of experience that he was able to comprehend it at all.

"Okay," he finally said.

"Okay?" Saito responded, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'okay?'"

"I mean 'okay'. Her story checks out. I believe her," Smith explained. Both Saito and Louise held confused expressions on their faces, which the INTERPOL agent apparently was expecting. "Now, since you two were so honest with me, I'm going to be honest with you. I didn't really think you were Flare. Had suspicions, yes, but nothing concrete. What I was most concerned of was where you came from, Ms. Vallière. People don't just appear out of thin air, not usually."

"What do you mean 'usually?'" Louise asked, angry at the man before her.

"What I mean is that we've had cases around the world of people crossing over from other dimensions," he revealed, much to Saito's and Louise's shock. "It's not very common, but it has happened before. Hell, one of my colleagues came from another dimension, so to hear that you did the same wasn't a new thing for me."

"…Really?" Louise asked, genuinely curious.

"Yes, and she's a wonderful person, but that's beside the point. The point is, none of us knew where you came from, and with all the events you had been linked to, it raised suspicion. Frankly, I'm surprised that Sycamore didn't notify us of your situation. Would've prevented this entire issue."

"Maybe he just doesn't like you? Can't imagine why…" Saito mumbled. Louise, on the other hand, thought back to her time as his intern. Exasperation built up in her, and she sighed.

"He probably never got around to it. Oh, I'm having words with him…" Louise grumbled to herself. As much as she admired and was grateful to the man for helping her, the fact that she almost got arrested because he didn't turn in the proper paperwork was infuriating. She then sighed and turned back to Agent Smith.

"So, what happens now?" she asked. Smith pursed his lips and nodded to himself.

"Now? A few things. One, I'll have some paperwork for you to sign. Make your status here official. Then, I'll have to notify my superiors, call off the investigation on you two. After that, dedicate my time to tracking Flare down."

"That we can agree on," Saito replied, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms.

"Which brings me to the other reason I'm here," Smith continued, adopting a more serious expression. "It has come to my attention that several of the staff here at the Cyllage Pokémon Center were not qualified medical personnel."

A sinking feeling filled the pit of Saito's and Louise's stomachs. Derflinger felt his worries come true, and he narrowed his eye at the INTERPOL agent.

"What do you mean?" Derflinger asked, and Smith turned his attention towards the Honedge.

"As it turns out, the Nurse Joy stationed here happened to be a sympathizer to Lysandre," Smith explained. "After his death and the subsequent collapse of Team Flare, she reluctantly decided to harbor certain Flare-affiliated individuals in this center, several of which acted as nurses, clerks, and other employees. Three of them worked on Ms. Vallière here before Nurse Joy finally called us to turn them in."

A heavy silence fell over the group. Louise felt her skin pale, only this time it wasn't due to the actions of the man before her. A deep sense of wrongness and violation permeated in her, and she shivered and held her body close.

"What did they do?" Saito asked, cold fury in his voice. Smith sighed, and again took off his sunglasses.

"We believe that, during the administration of the post-antivenom tests on her person, they illegally obtained several samples of Louise's DNA. For what purpose, we do not know. But, after what you told me, my guess is they were curious about your void magic." He paused and nervously licked his lips. Louise's skin by this point had gone white all over, and Saito was shaking in sheer rage. His fists were clenched so tightly they was hurting, and he was grinding his teeth loud enough to be heard by others in the room.

"Where are they?" Saito demanded venomously.

"They fled the scene. There were seventeen in total, we only managed to catch two," Smith answered. "Ms. Vallière, I assure you that we are treating this theft with the utmost seriousness. We will find them."

Louise could only nod, shivering more heavily, while Saito stared the INTERPOL agent down. "What about Nurse Joy?"

"She's been arrested. What happens to her, now, is out of my hands." Agent Smith stood up and straightened out his suit. "I'm sorry, but I have other duties. I'm sorry for inconveniencing you."

With that, Agent Smith left the room. No one said a word as the door closed. Slowly, Saito's and the assembled Pokémon turned their attention towards Louise, and right then and there Saito came to a decision.

"I'm going to kill them," he declared, and despite herself, Louise couldn't help but agree.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here's the latest chapter of Outsiders. A shorter one today, but no less important. This is a cool down episode as everyone comes down from the high that was the previous episode, and we have a lot of interesting things to go with.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **xyzdreadnought:** Thank you for the high praise! I really appreciate that. We do put a lot of work into fleshing out our world for the story, the characters, and everything in between. I'm glad that you like our interpretation of Saito. Yeah, in canon he wasn't the best, but we felt that with a few tweaks, we could make him into a compelling character. It helps that Louise, not Saito, is the protagonist of the story. Yeah, the number of OCs are staggering. Admittedly, sometimes I get confused, but luckily I have a team able to help me. And yes, Derflinger brought up your basic point. Team Flare, like similar real world and Pokemon world criminal groups, aren't the best at long-term thinking, and they ultimately fail.

 **RandomTandom0:** Yep, we wanted Louise to realize the consequences of letting her pride dictate her. Her decision to give Smith what he wanted here was a development from that realization. Her pride told her not to give him what he wanted, damn the consequences, but she controlled her pride and sucked it up to give him the information he sought. Glad you like the story, by the way! The relationships between the trainers and the Pokemon are some of my highlights, personally. They make the story for me, and I'm glad you're enjoying them so much.

 **keybladelight:** Well, the government knows now! Luckily, Pokemon Earth has experience in these matters, so hearing that Louise came from another world isn't far-fetched.

 **.549:** Yep, pride is Louise's biggest flaw as a character, and we wanted this arc to highlight that for her. That way, she can grow as a person.

 **Vein Bloodborne:** Glad you liked the chapter! And yeah, this was a good moment for Derflinger.


	51. Season 1, Episode 11, Chapter 2

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 11, Chapter 2**

[~][~]

Elizabeth walked through the partially destroyed streets of Cyllage, watching as the citizens began to pick up the pieces. As she turned her head to take it all in, a pang of sadness coursed through the heiress' heart. She wondered just how many people were injured today, but at the same time anger bubbled from within. She was angry at those terrorists and psychopaths for bringing this devastation to them in the first place. What gave them the right to inflict pain and destruction on others? She was also angry at that stupid boy, the one who proclaimed to be Louise's best friend. Although Elizabeth wouldn't describe her and Louise as being anywhere near close, she honestly doubted that Saito was truly her friend. A friend wouldn't have left the other alone in the middle of warzone, after all, and Saito did it at least twice thus far. Elizabeth felt that Saito hung around Louise more out of a sense of deluded attraction rather than genuine friendship.

The thoughts running through her head stopped as she finally found herself before Janet's house. She couldn't help but sigh at its condition. The windows were cracked and shattered, broken brick lined the partially burnt lawn and sidewalks, and splinters of wood littered the ground. Fighting had obviously broken out here, but Elizabeth couldn't quite determine who it was that did it. After a few more moments of quiet reflection, Elizabeth shook her head and continued on towards her true destination. She had been recalled back to the PWE office, for what reason she didn't know. They didn't tell her what they wanted, but it was obvious that her exhibition match was cancelled. Even Versus, as focused as he was on the PWE circuit, wouldn't dare even think about trying to perform in the wake of a tragedy of this magnitude. But what did they want?

Elizabeth continued to stew in her thoughts as she continued walking, and before she knew it, she found herself at the office's front doors. Miraculously, the building was unblemished, as was the surrounding area. It appeared that either the fighting didn't reach this area, or the wrestlers were able to fight them off quickly. She pushed them open after noticing that the power was out, telling her that the PWE wasn't completely unaffected, and walked past the empty reception desk and up several flights of stairs. She didn't even bother trying the elevators, just knowing that they were out, and eventually she found herself at the main conference room. Elizabeth looked around, trying to see if anyone else was here, but found none. She debated whether or not to go inside, then shrugged and opened the door. The conference room was, outside of a few scattered papers and utensils, spotless, but the only person inside was Janet. She was sitting on a chair, a neutral expression plastered on her face, and she was regarding Elizabeth intensely.

"Oh, Janet," Elizabeth said, standing in front of the open door, "you're got here early, too. Where is every—"

"Close the door. Now," Janet demanded, her tone of voice leaving no room for argument. Elizabeth was taken aback for a moment, but soon complied.

"Sit," Janet again demanded, to which Elizabeth promptly sat down upon the closest chair to her. A heavy silence hung over the room, and Elizabeth felt no desire to be the one to break it. It was obvious to her now that Janet was angry, and as the older woman continued to stare at her, a pit began to form in Elizabeth's gut. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Janet moved her hands off her lap and rested them on top of the table.

"Do you," Janet coldly began, "have any idea what you just did?"

Confused, Elizabeth replied, "Um, I'm sorry? I don't—"

Before Elizabeth could finish her sentence, Janet opened a manila envelope and pulled out several pictures. She passed them across the table to Elizabeth, who separated them and gasped upon recognizing the scene being displayed. She saw herself battling against the Flare Admin, that false idol calling herself Coda Nakagawa. Louise was next to her in several of them, clearly battling a progressing case of Toxapex poisoning, and Raven's frozen body was glimpsed in the corner of a few.

"This is…" Elizabeth whispered, beginning to realize why Janet was so angry.

"That's right. Your entire battle against Coda was broadcasted live on TV, allowing me and anyone else watching to see everything." Janet nodded, then leaned forward. "Now, tell me, Elizabeth. Why do you think I am completely, utterly furious with you right now?"

Elizabeth gulped and looked back down at down at the photographs before looking back up at Janet.

"Because I put myself in danger fighting someone I had no business trying to," she offered. Slowly, Janet nodded, but the pit in Elizabeth's stomach refused to go away.

"That's certainly part of it," Janet admitted, "but not all. No, I could actually forgive that. You were trying to rescue Raven after she got captured while also trying to bring down the leader of the attack. If I were in your position, I'd likely do the same thing. But," Janet raised her hand and pointed towards Louise, "this right here is something _entirely_ different."

Slowly, Elizabeth began to realize where the bulk of Janet's anger stemmed from. "Louise? Look, I tried to get her to leave when she got poisoned, but she wouldn't budge. Refused to even consider it, and by the time it got really bad it was too late."

"Okay, so basically what you're telling me is that your response to a girl poisoned by the most toxic Pokémon in the world was to ask her 'do you want to leave,' and when she stubbornly said no, you went 'alright,' and hoped for the best? Is that it?"

Elizabeth didn't answer. The words died in her throat, and slowly she felt enormous guilt and regret consume her soul. The look on her face must've told Janet that she was getting the desired response, and so she pressed on.

"Not only that, when you started fighting Coda, you decided that now the perfect time to start acting out your role. While your coworker was held captive and a girl you brought in to help you was dying. Then, to top it all off, you lost track of her when the battle was over, and had she not been found by a Pokémon Center employee, she would've succumbed to the toxin and died." Janet paused, and Elizabeth's face fell. "You could've gotten her killed, Elizabeth."

"It…it wasn't my fault. I tried to get her out," Elizabeth protested, but Janet held firm.

"Do you know how many times I've had to stop Raven and Erina from doing something stupid that could've hurt them? Do you know how many times they tried to get me to let them continue doing it, despite it being hazardous to their health? I've lost count, but each time it got out of hand, I've stepped in and stopped them despite their protests. Because I cared more about keeping them safe than their pride. About my pride, in the rare occasion. You didn't do that, and a girl was hospitalized because of it."

"I…I…" Elizabeth couldn't speak, and she felt tears pool in the corner of her eyes. "It's not my… Flare was the… She chose to…" Tears were flowing out of her eyes now, and Janet stared at her silently as the weight of the situation finally bore down on Elizabeth.

After a few moments, a satisfied Janet nodded and brought her hands together. "You made a mistake, Elizabeth, one that could've been very costly." She sighed and shook her head, and the cold, neutral look on her face softened. "Look, the meeting's not for a few more hours. You're not in trouble, so you don't have to worry about that. But, if you want my advice, I'd take a walk around town to cool your head. Alright?"

Elizabeth said nothing as she looked up at Janet with red, puffy eyes. She wiped the snot off her nose, then nodded before standing up and walking out of the room without saying a word. As the door closed, Janet sighed and leaned back against her chair, bringing her hand up to her brow and pinching it.

"Arceus, what a day."

* * *

Technically speaking, Louise wasn't clear to leave the Pokémon Center's medical ward for at least a few more days. But neither she nor Saito cared. After what their 'employees' did to her, they had to get out. She didn't feel safe to be in that building for a second longer.

That was a new feeling to Louise. Not feeling safe. When she first arrived in Kalos, she felt fear, sadness, anger, and a whole assortment of complex emotions that, as a sixteen-year-old girl, were overwhelming. But, despite the literally alien environment, she never truly felt that she was in danger. Definitely not secure, but not to the point where she felt she wasn't safe. It didn't hurt that she was found by Professor Sycamore almost immediately.

Now, however, was an entirely different situation. Louise had her DNA stolen right from under her nose. Her genetic makeup, what made her 'Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Vallière'. Her magic, her nobility, her personhood, it all came from her DNA, and it was taken from her by people she trusted. Louise couldn't even begin to describe the level of violation she felt. The feeling overshadowed and consumed everything else she might have felt in this moment. Louise wasn't angry, she wasn't scared or confused. Just a deep sense of violation.

The noblewoman shivered to herself as she was escorted out of the Pokémon Center by Officer Jenny towards her squad car. Saito was behind her, an intense scowl plastered across his face while he carried their belongings. Their destination was a hotel on the other side of Cyllage City. Agent Smith, apparently as recompense for both the baseless accusation against them and a result of the DNA theft, had managed to acquire a room for them. If nothing else, she could appreciate that.

Louise, Saito, and Officer Jenny arrived at the squad car, Jenny opening the back door for Louise to pile inside while Saito placed their belongings in the trunk. Derflinger had already floated inside, and Louise was holding Brennaraki in her lap. In her current state, Louise didn't want to feel alone, and the presence of her starter was a massive help. She heard a heavy thud as Saito slammed the trunk closed, and she couldn't help but jump slightly. Saito didn't notice as he stomped towards the open car door, then sat down and closed it hard behind him.

"Hotel Cyllage, correct?" Officer Jenny gently asked, and Louise nodded. "Alright. Just sit back and relax."

"…Thank you," Louise quietly said, turning her head to look out the window as the engine started and the car began to roll away.

"Ms. Vallière," Jenny began, continuing to drive the car through the smoking, heavily scarred streets, "I want you to know that we are taking this matter very seriously. We will find them and bring them to justice, I assure you."

"What will happen when you do?" Saito asked, leaning towards the center of the car.

"At minimum? Twenty years. Given the nature and circumstance of the offense, it will likely be longer. Life, if I had to guess," Jenny responded, but Saito frowned.

"Life would be too lenient," he mumbled. Officer Jenny didn't say anything, knowing that the boy's words stemmed from a protective instinct towards his friend. Louise couldn't help but smile softly, hearing how dedicated her best friend was to her. Still, that smile lasted for only a moment, and she turned her attention back towards the streets.

With the fighting now fully subsided, she could see the heavy wounds it had inflicted in all its macabre glory. Wrecked vehicles lined the streets, shards of broken glass littered the pavement and had the sunlight reflect off of them and into Louise's eyes. Thick clouds of billowing black smoke rose into the air, with faint orange glows visible in some of them. Sirens could be heard, and occasionally an ambulance or police car would speed by, their destination unknown to her. Several buildings, housing shops and homes, were broken apart, their stonework facades laying on the ground as nothing more than rubble among the shards of glass. Burnt paper fluttered in the wind, black soot and scorch marks marred the insides, and occasionally Louise could even see flecks of ash fall from above.

"So senseless," Jenny muttered. "What did Cyllage do to deserve this?"

"Nothing," Louise immediately answered. "Nothing at all."

Saito nodded at her declaration, agreeing with it wholeheartedly. Although he had never been to Cyllage before today, he had seen pictures and videos of it. The city was beautiful, a wonderous coastal and mountain town that attracted some of the best people in Kalos. Now, much of it was broken, all so the perpetrators could break out more of their own. Undoubtedly to commit further atrocities. Saito thought he disliked Team Flare after news of their activities came to light, which had only increased after the Riviere Daycare. But now? He hated Team Flare with an undying passion.

Without saying a word, Derflinger looked at Saito from the corner of his eye. The boy's protective instinct towards Louise was admirable, but in the Honedge's opinion, Saito needed to cool his jets. Before he did something drastic and foolhardy. Now wasn't the time for such a discussion, not with Officer Jenny around, but he'd have it soon enough. So, he was content to remain quiet for now.

They turned down a street, and Louise's, Saito's, and Jenny's eyes were immediately drawn to teams of humans and Pokémon working together to douse a nearby fire. Simipours, Azumarills, Vaporeons, and Golducks shot jets of water into the flames alongside human firefighters. Nearby, police officers and their Pokémon partners held captured members of Team Flare to the wall, reading them their rights and confiscating their Pokémon and various other belongings. Further down the street, they saw Machamps, Rhyhorns, and Conkledurrs moving rubble out of the way, some already beginning to put the shattered buildings together again. Everyone smiled at the sight, and Jenny nodded.

"You see that?" Jenny asked, slowing the squad car down to a gentle stop to allow the construction crews to do their work. When Saito and Louise nodded, Jenny continued. "That right there is what people like Team Flare and Team Plasma and all the other criminal teams across the world just don't understand. They think that people and Pokémon can be broken, beaten down. That they can just run right over us and destroy our lives without a care in the world. But what they don't realize is that people and Pokémon simply don't give up, even if things get bad. Bad things happen sometimes, and it's horrible when they happen, but by working together, humans and Pokémon are able to pick up the pieces and start anew. Forge a better, stronger future together as one."

Louise smiled and Jenny's words. "I like the sound of that," she admitted, and Jenny smiled.

"As do I," she said, continuing to patiently wait for the crews to let them pass. A Machamp began to clear a path for them, then once one was made it moved to the side and threw two of his arms back, the other two ushering them forward. Jenny nodded at the Superpower Pokémon, then moved the squad car out of park and drove off once again.

Similar scenes to what they had previously seen played out throughout the rest of their trip to the Cyllage Hotel. Destruction and the efforts to rebuild. It formed a delicate harmony, but as they drew closer and closer to the Cyllage Hotel, the level of destruction steadily decreased. It was still there, but compared to the rest of the city, it was remarkably intact. The answer as to why that was the case was immediately apparent by the level of Pokémon trainers in the vicinity, along with several dozen Flare cells laying broken along the streets and in the process of being arrested.

Saito couldn't help but snort. "Yeah, good luck with trying to attack a place popular year-round with Pokémon trainers, dumbasses."

"Yeah, not their smartest move." Jenny frowned. "Neither was attacking Cyllage. Hell's coming their way after this."

Saito and Louise nodded just as Jenny pulled the car in front of the hotel. They stopped, then opened the doors and exited the vehicle. At the same time, Jenny popped open the trunk, allowing Saito to gather their belongings. She led them to the receptionist, a young brunette wearing a maid uniform who recognized the police woman immediately and began typing into her computer.

"Officer Jenny," the receptionist said, the nametag on her chest reading 'Amelie'. "Are these two Saito Hiraga and Louise Vallière?"

"Yes, they are," Jenny answered. "Do you mind escorting them to their room? I have to get back out there."

"Of course! Ms. Vallière, Mr. Hiraga, please follow me," Amelie asked, taking their bags from Saito's hands. The young woman showed surprising strength, easily carrying the bags with little to no issue as she led them towards the elevators. Officer Jenny watched them go, then turned around and walked back to her squad car once the trio entered the elevator and began to ascend to the top floor.

"I have to say," Amelie began to make idle conversation as the elevator car continued to ascend, "you two were lucky. Before this whole mess, we only had one room left, and you guys got it."

"Lucky us," Saito replied, internally wondering whether or not Agent Smith screwed over someone to get them the room. Amelie, blind to his concerns, smiled and chuckled.

"Indeed!"

The car doors opened, allowing them to exit the elevator and walk into a semi-crowded hallway. Trainers and Pokémon hustled down and back the Pokéball-patterned carpet, but other than moving around Saito, Louise, and Amelie, didn't pay them much attention. Finally, the trio arrived at their suite, Room 6004.

"Here we are," Amelie announced as she opened the door, allowing Saito, Louise, and Derflinger to enter. In contrast to the rest of the city, the room was in pristine condition. A dark blue carpet covered in various patterns of different types of Pokéballs covered the floor, and the wall was covered in a white-and-blue-striped wallpaper which showed various different Pokémon in vertical columns. Two twin beds sat before a flat screen TV sitting atop a large drawer, with a nightstand in between the two beds. A large lamp sat on top of the nightstand, and a single alarm clock was beside it.

"It's very nice," Louise quickly appraised, which Saito silently agreed with. Amelie, her eyes closed, smiled and clapped her hands together.

"Splendid!" she declared before stepping back towards the door. "I must return to my duties downstairs, but please feel free to call for any assistance you may need. Also, given the day's events, all room service is complimentary for the foreseeable future, so please help yourselves to any accommodation you desire."

"We'll keep that in mind," Louise said. "Thank you, Amelie."

"You are welcome, Ms. Vallière," Amelie replied. "Have a wonderful rest of your day."

With that, Amelie bowed and left the room, gently closing it behind her. Once again, Saito and Louise were left alone, and the two turned to face each other. Neither knew what to say, then Saito coughed and moved towards their belongings.

"I'll…get us unpacked," he stated, opening his backpack to pull out his wrinkled and crumpled clothes. He cringed at their state and knew he would have to get them washed. But he placed them aside, preparing to move on to the next item when he heard a bag unzip beside him. He turned his head to look at Louise, who was unloading her own bag. She paused when she noticed him staring at her, and she puffed up her cheeks in annoyance.

"What? I can take care of myself," she insisted in a familiar, haughty tone. Saito couldn't help but smile and he shook his head.

"And here I was thinking I was your maid," Saito joked, and Louise smiled.

"Oh, trust me, Saito. You are many things, but 'maid' is not one of them. Plus, for you, the proper term is 'servant', or perhaps 'menial'."

"I should hope so. Otherwise, you'd be paying me." Saito paused, then shot Louise a wry grin. "Of course, given your spending habits, maybe I should hope you'd be paying me. Would certainly be a—"

Louise quickly shut him up by throwing a pillow into his face, which Saito immediately laughed off. Louise joined in, their laughter merging into a lighthearted chorus that lifted their spirits. This continued for several minutes, the two continuing to lightly rib each other as they set about unpacking their things and putting them into the appropriate place. Their Pokémon were let out of their Pokéballs, and they placed themselves on various bits of furniture scattered around the room. Ronin and Esprit helped their trainers put everything away, while the others rested their tired and aching muscles. When they were finally complete, Saito and Louise sat across from each other on their respectively claimed beds, then looked at each other.

"So, what's the plan?" Saito asked, letting Louise set the stage. Louise looked at her friend, then sighed.

"Honestly, I don't know," she admitted. "Frankly, after the past couple of weeks, I'm just so…tired. I want to rest, more than anything."

"You and me, both," Saito agreed. He saw how tired Louise was, the heavy bags under her eyes, and he nodded at her. "Tell you what. How about you go to sleep while I check on some things."

"That sounds—" Louise paused to let out a long yawn, and her eyes began to droop. "That sounds lovely."

Louise, without even bothering to get under her covers, rested her head on the pillow, and almost immediately fell asleep. Saito watched her softly breathe in and out with a soft smile, then quietly walked over to the foot of her bed to grab a throw blanket resting there. He covered her body with it, and her sleeping form subconsciously grabbed hold of it to draw it closer to her body. Her Pokémon looked at him with appreciative gazes, and Brennaraki snuggled in-between her arms as she, too, began to rest. Auspice slept at her feet, Aile and Esprit by her head, and soon soft snores filled the room.

Saito watched them for a few more seconds, then turned towards a nearby table and chair with a small frown. Quietly, he pulled out his Pokédex from his pocket and took Louise's from the nightstand, then laid them both on the table. Before he sat down, he pulled out a small tool kit, one used to maintain the Pokédexes, and began to disassemble both.

He had 'lost' his Pokédex during the battle, which was later found at the very same Pokémon Center they originally went to. At first, he accepted the explanation given, but after recent revelations, he'd be stupid to take them at their word. That crime-infested building held his Pokédex for several hours, at least, and had Louise in-person for several hours as well. If they were willing to steal her DNA, what might they be interested in with their Pokédexes? They had already checked to see if anything was stolen, which so far hadn't proved to be the case, but Saito couldn't take any chances.

To his frustration, as he stared at two completely disassembled Pokédexes, he found nothing. Normally, he would have taken it at that and dismissed himself as being paranoid, but he knew that something was off. Saito couldn't take the risk, and so he reassembled the Pokédexes before stashing both in his pocket.

"Derf, I'll be back," he declared as he walked towards the door.

"Where ya' going?" he asked as Saito's Pokémon, even Maindo after Tanuki nudged the Ralts along, joined their trainer.

"I saw an electronics shop nearby on the way over here, one that wasn't destroyed, and I want to make sure that no one tampered with our Pokédexes," Saito revealed. Derflinger nodded appreciatively, understanding exactly where Saito's head was at. The boy returned his Pokémon to their Pokéballs, then quietly made his way out the door. Now alone with Louise, Derflinger took the time to look at the sleeping girl. She looked so vulnerable yet simultaneously protected in her present state, what with all the Pokémon resting alongside her.

Derflinger thought back to Saito's earlier declaration, and right then and there he found himself making a similar vow. He'd only known these kids for a few weeks, but already if they were to come to harm again, he vowed that blood would be shed.

* * *

Getting to the electronics shop was fairly easy, in Saito's opinion. When he arrived, he found only the shop keeper checking on the outside of his store, a few Magnemites floating around and zapping electronics with bursts of electricity. Judging by the flickering lights, they were likely doing repair work.

"Um," Saito began, looking towards the dead neon store sign to read the name 'Victor's Electronics', "Victor?"

"Hmm?" the man turned around, confirming to Saito that Victor was indeed the man's name. Victor saw Saito and immediately understood exactly what Saito wanted, and prepared to wave him off. "Sorry, kid. We're closed today. Gotta repair my shop after what Flare did."

"I understand that," Saito insisted as he stepped forward, pulling out both his and Louise's Pokédexes, "but I assure you that this is urgent."

Victor looked at the Pokédexes and raised an eyebrow. "Are they broken? If they are, kid I'm sorry but you'll have to wait a few days. I can't—"

"Both of these Pokédexes were held by members of Team Flare who were disguised as nurses at the nearby Pokémon Center for several hours," Saito interrupted, causing Victor's attention to focus entirely on the young boy. The Magnemites did as well, and Saito continued. "I don't know if they tampered with them or not."

Quietly, Victor took the Pokédexes from Saito's hands, looked them over and immediately appraised them.

"You already checked?" Victor asked, and Saito nodded.

"Yes, but I don't know what to look for," Saito admitted. Victor looked at the young boy, then nodded.

"Follow me," he said, leading Saito inside the remains of his shop. The Magnemites followed after him, and soon they entered the back room. The electrician grabbed some nearby tools and began to work. Compared to Saito, the man was obviously much more experienced as he quickly and efficiently pulled the electronic devices apart. Saito was impressed but stayed silent, allowing the man to work. After a few minutes, however, the man stopped and grabbed a pair of tweezers.

"There you are…" he mumbled to himself, pulling out a small, black, circular device that was attached to the motherboard of Saito's Pokédex.

"What is it?" Saito asked, eyeing the device with suspicion.

"This," Victor replied, holding the device up, "is a bug. I've seen these before. It would have tracked any outgoing and incoming transmissions to your Pokédex. Texts, calls, scans, emails, wire transfers, anything that would have gone through your Pokédex it would have picked up. You were right, kid."

Saito silently looked at the man, then back at the small bug. He glared intensely at it and held out his hand for the device. Victor dropped it into Saito's hands before turning his attention to Louise's, allowing Saito to walk over to a nearby workbench, grab a hammer off a wall, and smash the bug as hard as he could.

* * *

Just as he feared, both his and Louise's Pokédexes were tampered with. As much as he wanted to, Saito couldn't bring himself to walk back to Hotel Cyllage after Victor finished with his complimentary service. He was far too angry for that, and instead he decided to occupy his time by stomping around the city. His hands were deep in his pockets, and he was lurching forward with a deep scowl on his face. A few passerby gave him a wide berth, not wanting to catch his ire, but most simply gave him an understanding nod. They rightfully assumed that his anger was focused on Flare, and they'd be correct. Still, Saito knew he'd calm down eventually. He just needed to walk it off.

He eventually found himself in one of Cyllage's many Pokémon Battling Arenas. Like most, it was an open-air pit, with spectator stands on either side behind a retaining wall. It was in remarkably good condition, with of course a few scattered pieces of rubble littering the dirt floor. The white chalk lines that marked the interior was also gone, but all in all, the damage wasn't anything more than an hour's worth of maintenance to fix. In the aftermath of Flare's attack, he supposed it was a blessing.

Then, across the arena on the opposite side of the street, Saito saw her. He would recognize her green hair anywhere, not to mention the expensive clothes. She was no longer wearing her gaudy wrestling uniform, having obviously changed out of it, and was back to wearing her normal attire. Her head was hung low, but Saito suddenly didn't care about that as he found himself stomping across the arena straight towards her.

"Hey!" Saito shouted, catching Elizabeth's attention and startling her.

"Huh, what?" she gasped, looking around for the source of the voice. When she saw Saito stomping towards her, the confused and forlorn expression shifted to one of unmasked annoyance. She rolled her eyes and looked down on him. "Ah, great. You again. What do you want?"

Saito stopped at the edge of the arena, looking up at her furiously. Elizabeth looked back down on him. She knew he was likely still angry about what happened to Louise, and part of her felt like she could say something along the lines of how she knows now it was a mistake to keep her along, but the rest of her felt it wasn't worth it. He wasn't worth it, and with a huff she prepared to turn around and leave.

"It's your fault," Saito finally declared, stopping Elizabeth in her tracks.

"Okay, what did I do _this_ time?" she asked, turning around to look Saito in the eye as a small group of spectators gathered around in curiosity. Saito said nothing, and Elizabeth nodded in satisfaction before turning around again.

"The Pokémon Center she was taken to," Saito quietly said, stopping Elizabeth cold, "it didn't use actual nurses. They were harboring Team Flare fugitives prior to the attack, and when Louise got there, they _stole_ from her. Took her DNA while treating her and violated her trust."

Elizabeth wasn't looking at Saito, but she couldn't mask the look of shock and horror on her face for anyone else to see.

"They…they did what?" she asked, and Saito angrily nodded.

"That's right," he answered, stepping forward, "and because of you, she was put into a situation that allowed for that violation to happen!"

Elizabeth was stunned into silence, but then she turned around and angrily glared at Saito once again.

"Are you seriously blaming me for that?" she accused. Saito's glare was more than enough to answer her, and Elizabeth felt her body shake. How dare he insult her in a such a manner? Of course, what happened to Louise was horrific, and even she doubted he would've lied about something of that magnitude, but to turn around and say it was because of her was borderline slander. Not to mention insulting of the highest degree. Her teeth ground together, and she was clenching her fists hard enough to where the knuckles were bone white, and just as Saito was about to speak again, Elizabeth to cut him off.

"You know what," Elizabeth declared as she walked along the side of the retaining wall towards a set of downward sloping stairs, "if you're so insistent on blaming me for everything, let's go ahead and get this over with."

She pulled out a Pokéball, telling Saito what her intention was. He studied her for a moment, then nodded and pulled out one of his own.

"You're on."

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! We're back, and with the latest chapter of Outsiders! Special thanks to Darwin Candidate, Grendel4823, wildrook, and Yuri Vampire for their help in bringing this story to life. Unfortunately, Firebird Zoom has decided to leave the project in order to pursue other things, and I graciously thank her for all the help she's provided to this story over the years.

Another calm chapter, which was desperately needed after several chapters of hectic, non-stop chaos. But, unfortunately it appears that the conflict between Saito and Elizabeth will be rearing its ugly head soon. As for how it's resolved, you'll have to wait and see next time. Speaking of, I aim to bring Outsiders back to its normal schedule, so I aim to bring out the next chapter within two weeks.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **Kithrin:** I'll show Arceus' thoughts on Louise's current status eventually, but ultimately he's not needed at the moment. I'm more focused on Louise and Saito, more than anything.

 **EvaShinobiKaiserKnight:** You'll have to wait and see what we have planned for the theft of Louise's DNA in the coming chapters. I'm glad you like the story!

 **Boyzilla:** Don't worry, the next few chapters are going to be much calmer. It's needed, after everything they've been through.

 **Vein Bloodborne:** Yep, the whole 'Nurse Joy was a Flare Sympathizer' was meant to help highlight that each Joy, despite appearing to be clones of each other, are their own person. This one was a sympathizer who thought Lysandre would make the world a better place, and something terrible happened to our heroes because of it. Expect to see ramifications of this betrayal in the future.

 **keybladelight:** Yep, DNA theft is a serious thing, and we wanted to show that. As for a Gym Battle, it's coming. Just, stuff has to calm down a bit more in the meantime.

 **DRMAK:** No, it'll be temporary. The way we saw it, Pokemon-World technology was advanced enough to justify making such a thing be a temporary thing. At the same time, we did recognize the potential for character growth, hence why we had it set for a month in the first place. One of the things Louise is growing about is not taking what she previously had for granted, and sight is one of those things.

 **:** It was reluctant because Nurse Joy knew that, should she be found it, her head would be on the line and there was a possibility of something going wrong. The attack on Cyllage proved to be too much for her to rationalize away, hence why she turned them in. Incidentally, that's why the disguised Flare 'nurses' were freaking out so much. They were rightfully worried about Joy turning them in at any moment.

That's it for this time. I hope you all enjoy! Let us know what you think!


	52. Season 1, Episode 11, Chapter 3

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 11, Chapter 3**

[~][~]

Slowly, Louise blinked open her eyes to a grey, washed out ceiling. Her body ached from the toils and events of the day, and as she rose off the bed, she stretched out her arms and yawned deeply. Around her, the still-sleeping bodies of her Pokémon groaned and rolled to the side, not wanting to be roused just yet. Louise smacked her lips a few times, allowing for moisture to rejuvenate them, then began to lazily glance around the room. As with the ceiling, it too was varying shades of grey, with the carpet a uniform black and the wall composed of alternating stripes.

Louise sighed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Once again, she was reminded of her current condition, how her stupid pride and arrogance inflicted it upon her. She knew that Saito blamed himself, but she knew better. The fact that her vision would return to normal in roughly a month didn't do much to alleviate her stress.

She took a glance at the nightstand in between her and Saito's beds. Placed next to the alarm clock was a clear plastic bottle containing at least thirty white pills. Her name was printed on its side, and a glass of water was already sitting next to it. A note was leaning against the glass, and with a soft smile on her face, Louise grabbed it and began to read its contents.

' _Remember to take your medicine today,_ ' Saito wrote. ' _The doctor said to take three pills a day with water._ '

Louise nodded at the note, then uncapped the bottle, placed the appropriate number of pills in her hand, grabbed the glass of water, then downed the medicine. She shivered at the awkward sensation of the pills traveling down her throat, but quickly shook it off before swinging her legs to the side and resting her feet on the floor.

"So, you're finally awake?" Derflinger made his presence known, prompting Louise to turn her head to a nearby cushioned chair where the Honedge was sitting. Louise nodded at him but remained sitting, looking around to try and find Saito.

"Hello, Derflinger," Louise quietly greeted, trying not to wake her sleeping Pokémon. "Where's Saito?"

"Went out a while ago," Derflinger explained. "He got all paranoid about the Pokédexes in the hands of those fake nurses, rightly so in my opinion, then went out to get them checked after he didn't find anything."

"How long ago was that?" Louise asked, internally agreeing with Saito's logic. If the situation was flipped, even with her more limited grasp of modern Kalosian technology, she imagined she would've reacted the same way. Of course, she probably would've just thrown out the old and get replacements from Sycamore, not gotten them checked by someone else, but that was probably just her inexperience talking.

"About two hours ago," Derflinger replied, his voice sounding grim. "He hasn't come back yet, so that tells me either A, he got lost, B, something bad happened to him, or C, most likely, Saito was proven right and now he's pissed. Can't say I would blame him."

"Hmm," Louise hummed and nodded, a slight frown marring her face. She had been travelling with Saito for over two months now, and she liked to think that she'd gotten a pretty good grasp of his overall personality. If there was one thing she noticed about her best friend, it was that he was extremely protective of the people he truly cared about. Pokémon, too, but lately that protectiveness has been centered around her because of what Flare had done. That by itself wasn't a problem in Louise's eyes, but what was is how Saito tended to let his anger get the best of him during that state. He might do something dumb out of anger, and that could very well lead to problems.

Louise stood up off the bed, stretching out her legs to release the tension in her joints. She wondered what to do. Should she stay in the hotel room, trusting for Saito to work things out on his own, or should she go out and find him before he makes a potential mistake born from anger? It was hard to decide, but she then glanced out the window. The noon sun was begging to drip lower into the horizon, its rays partially blocked by columns of black smoke, and sirens could faintly be heard in the distance. Louise's expression settled, and with a nod she began to rouse her Pokémon.

"Come on, guys. Let's go find him," Louise said as her Pokémon grumpily awoke. Derflinger said nothing, merely raising his eyebrow towards the young noblewoman, then did an approximation of a shrug and rose out of the chair.

"Yeah, preferably before he does something stupid."

* * *

Saito stood across from Elizabeth on the sunken arena. A small crowd of spectators had formed around the two trainers, but neither of them truly cared. Their focus was entirely on their opponent, their eyes blazing with pure, unadulterated rage. For the longest time, they simply studied each other, trying to see if their bodies would expose anything of note. Finally, Saito pulled out a Pokéball.

"How many Pokémon do you have on hand?" Saito tersely asked.

"Four," Elizabeth answered, pulling out a Pokéball of her own. "How many do you have?"

"Five, but to keep it fair I'll use four as well."

"How gentlemanly."

"It's more than you deserve."

Elizabeth flashed a brief, toothy snarl, but quickly recomposed herself. Her mind raced over the possibilities, and to her chagrin, she began to see that she was at somewhat of a disadvantage. Saito knew exactly what Pokémon she had on hand: Eevee, Zorua, Spettro, and Machamp. But she only knew three of his: his Oshawatt, his Riolu, and his Ralts. She didn't know what the other two Pokémon were, or if any of his previous Pokémon had evolved. How was she going to put him in his place?

Her hand itched towards Machamp's Pokéball, but then she saw Saito's condescending eyes glance towards it. Elizabeth stopped herself and shook her head. In all honesty, Machamp probably was strong enough to solo Saito's entire team, but she had no guarantee that the Superpower Pokémon would find this fight honorable enough to actually listen to her given his competition. He certainly didn't during her 'rematch' against Louise back in Lumiose. More importantly, she knew that, even in the unlikely event he didn't say anything, Elizabeth wouldn't truly beat Saito by starting off with a Pokémon she had others train extensively for her beforehand. She wouldn't give him that moral victory, and quickly settled on her first Pokémon. Saito did the same, and they stared at each other for a few tense seconds. A heavy atmosphere hung over them, before finally both erupted into action.

"Go, Spettro!"

"Show her what you're made of, Shogun!"

Two Pokéballs were thrown from opposite sides of the arena, releasing two different Pokémon. The Sewaddle named Spettro and the Tyrunt named Shogun stared at each other, sizing their opponent up, and Elizabeth couldn't help but smirk. She recognized the Pokémon before her and knew that the Rock/Dragon-type was at a slight disadvantage against her Bug/Grass-type. She could exploit that.

"Alright, Spettro, let's get this over with!" Elizabeth began, thrusting out her hand in a wide, sweeping gesture. "Use Razor Leaf!"

"Dodge it, then use Stealth Rock!" Saito ordered. Shogun complied just as a cloud of razor-sharp leaves were fired towards him, and he sprinted to the side to avoid the attack. A few leaves managed to graze his tail and he winced in pain, but the Tyrunt fought through it and turned on his heels. The mane on his neck glowed as small rocks and rubble were lifted from the ground around him then scattered across the arena. They disappeared underground, and Elizabeth frowned. She knew what Stealth Rock did, and suddenly the idea of switching out her Pokémon suddenly became more dangerous. Saito obviously knew what he was doing, and that just motivated her to beat him even more.

"Spettro, web that Tyrunt up with String Shot!" Elizabeth ordered, hoping to immobilize her opponent and thus grant her an easy win. The Sewaddle did as instructed, forming a glob of silk inside of his mandibles before shooting it out as a thin, compressed stream. Shogun jumped over the attack, but Spettro followed his movements upwards and managed to hit his ankles. They were quickly bound in thick bands of silk, causing Shogun to lose his balance and fall to the ground on his side. He struggled to bite the silk off, and Elizabeth smirked once again. Saito, however, remained focused and didn't betray any emotion on his face.

"Now, use Ra—" Elizabeth began, hoping to end the battle against Shogun here and now, only for Saito to cut her off with a simple command.

"Roar."

Elizabeth's eyes widened as Shogun stopped tearing away at the silk and leveled his gaze towards Spettro. He opened his maw then unleashed a bone-rattling roar. Contrary to what she expected, it was less loud and thunderous and instead was much lower. So low, in fact, she could barely hear it. But she could _feel_ it, feel the soundwaves vibrate against her body, shaking her very core. Spettro, the true target of the attack, was suddenly stuck by complete, all-consuming fear, and before Elizabeth could even say anything, the Sewaddle retreated into his Pokéball.

"What?!" Elizabeth shouted, shooting her head towards Spettro's Pokéball as Shogun went back to tearing away at his silky binds. Saito didn't deign to answer her, instead leveling an intense glare into her eyes.

"Grrgh," Elizabeth growled, reaching for another Pokéball strapped to her hip. She enlarged it then threw the Pokéball out onto the field, releasing Machamp just as Shogun finally freed himself. At the same time, the arena floor sprang to life as hundreds of tiny stones shot out and struck Machamp from all sides. Suddenly, an illusion broke, and Machamp revealed himself to actually be Zorua. The Tricky Fox Pokémon winced and staggered from the blows, and once it was all over, she couldn't help but let out a few labored breaths. Elizabeth glared daggers at Saito, who didn't respond in kind.

"Shogun, Stomp!" Saito ordered. Shogun, now freed from his binds, shrieked in acknowledgement as he ran at full speed towards Zorua.

"Feint Attack!" Elizabeth commanded. A shimmering purple aura glowed off of Zorua as she rushed forward to face Shogun head on. Just as Shogun jumped into the air, Zorua moved to attack from the side, only to change position at the last second so that Shogun's attack hit nothing but the dirt. His flank exposed, she struck only to bounce off of the Tyrunt's scaly hide. Saito let out a ghost of a smirk as Shogun shot his head towards the bewildered Zorua, and before she could even react, Shogun sharply turned his body around and clamped his jaws tightly around Zorua's back.

Shogun thrashed his head from side to side, his dagger-like teeth digging into Zorua's flesh. The Tricky Fox Pokémon struggled to free herself, moving her paws to try and pry Shogun's jaws loose, but they wouldn't budge.

"Zorua!" Elizabeth shouted, urging her Pokémon to do something, anything, to get out of this mess. Zorua tried to swipe at Shogun's face with Pursuit, only for Shogun to suddenly slam her into the ground with enough force to knock the air out of her lungs. Disoriented, Shogun followed up his attack by releasing her from his jaws, only to then stomp on her gut. Once again what little air that was in Zorua's lungs was knocked out, and Zorua could only whimper as Shogun violently kicked her away. Her body bounced along the dirt repeatedly, coming to a rest just before the edge and forming a small trail behind her. Elizabeth said nothing, only able to stare in silent horror as her Pokémon struggled to get up. Slowly but surely, Zorua did so, and with a low, pained growl, she turned to face Shogun once again. Elizabeth gazed at her Pokémon appreciatively, then turned to face Saito once again.

"If you think that'll be enough to put us down, think again!" she declared earnestly, but Saito wasn't impressed by her bravado. He shook his head and rolled his eyes before looking back at Elizabeth once again.

"Wasn't planning on it," Saito simply said before pointing his finger at Zorua. "Shogun, finish her off with Bite."

Shogun immediately complied with the order, charging towards Zorua with his maw opened wide. Zorua looked up while swaying on her feet, and already knew that she didn't have the strength to dodge. So, she didn't try and instead focused as a purple aura enveloped her again. As Shogun grew close, she used Feint Attack once again, trying to catch the Tyrunt off-guard. But Shogun had expected the attack this time and sharply moved his body so that it was parallel to her attack. Everything seemed to go into slow motion for Zorua as her body's momentum carried her past Shogun's still open maw, and there wasn't much she could do before she felt them clamp down on her once again. Her world began to shake as Shogun shook her around from side to side, and with one final throw into a nearby wall, Zorua slumped to the ground, completely unconscious.

Elizabeth stared in shock at the defeated form of Zorua as Shogun proudly scraped his feet against the dirt. He roared a challenge at Elizabeth, daring her to choose her next Pokémon, and the verdette felt her anger bubble up from within her gut. Once again, her hand inched towards Machamp's Pokéball, but decided against it.

' _No, not yet. Not unless I have to,_ ' Elizabeth thought as she pulled out Spettro's Pokéball and released the Sewaddle once again. Almost immediately, Spettro was assaulted by the Stealth Rock and she winced in pain. At the same time, however, and to Elizabeth's surprise, Saito recalled Shogun and pulled out another Pokéball, releasing Tanuki onto the battlefield. The Riolu quickly oriented himself into a kata, raising one of his paws to face Spettro.

"Alright, then," Elizabeth muttered, mentally preparing herself. "Spettro, start off with String Shot!"

Immediately, Spettro shot a stream of webbing towards Riolu, who dodged to the right in a burst of blinding speed. Tanuki zoomed around the edge of the battlefield, keeping just ahead of the String Shot as he got closer and close to Spettro. Seeing her plan clearly wasn't working, and that Tanuki was getting extremely close now, Elizabeth ordered Spettro to halt her attack and use Bug Bite instead. Spettro's mandibles glowed as they opened wide and she reared herself back before biting deep into Tanuki's arm. The Riolu whelped in pain before quickly regaining his focus. His free paw began to blow with Aura, and he repeatedly used Force Palm on the Bug/Grass-type. Each blow knocked against the exoskeleton, rattling Spettro's insides and prompting the Sewaddle to bite down harder in an effort to keep hold.

Tanuki grit his teeth in response while continuing to rain blow after blow, and it wasn't long before he began to feel a slack in the pressure on his arm. He let out a small smirk, then edged his fingers between the small gap. He forcibly pried the Sewaddle off of his arm, and her beady black eyes widened slightly before Tanuki threw her as far as he could across the field. She squealed in fright before grunting in pain as her body bounced along the dirt, skidding to a stop along her side. Before she could even think about getting up, she heard Saito yell for Tanuki to use Quick Attack, and almost immediately she felt a massive impact slam against her body. She went flying, only to be violently rebounded as Tanuki used another Quick Attack to reposition himself before her body, followed by a Force Palm to her head. This time she flew back in the opposite direction, and the sudden impact proved to be too much for the Sewaddle to take as she slipped into blissful unconsciousness.

"Spettro!" Elizabeth shouted in alarm before grunting frustratingly. She shot a glare towards Saito, who held Tanuki's Pokéball in hand as he prepared to recall the Riolu. Once again, Elizabeth was down a Pokémon while Saito hadn't even lost one. She was getting destroyed, and both of them knew it. Her eyes shot towards her Pokéballs once again, then she snarled and shook her head.

"Forget this," she muttered to herself, pulling out Machamp's Pokéball. Giving him a moral victory or not, she was going to win this thing just to wipe that stupid look off his face. Saito immediately noticed which Pokéball Elizabeth had grabbed and grabbed one of his own.

"Destroy him, Machamp!" Elizabeth shouted as she sent the Superpower Pokémon onto the battlefield. At the same time, Saito wordlessly sent out his own, and Elizabeth briefly wondered which Pokémon it would be. If she had to guess, Saito would most likely use that Ralts of his. Even if it was only a first-stage evolution, its Psychic-typing would be his best bet. She doubted Saito would send out Tanuki again after already recalling him, but that was another distinct possibility along with his Oshawatt starter, if she remembered correctly.

So, it was to her great surprise when Saito, instead of releasing his Ralts, brought back out Shogun. What was he thinking? Machamp was already the most powerful Pokémon either of them had and sending a Rock/Dragon-type was only adding to his inherent disadvantage. This was proven as the Stealth Rock once again activated, pelting Machamp with hundreds of tiny rocks, only for the four-armed Pokémon to barely even flinch. She doubted he even registered it, to be honest.

Machamp, meanwhile, studied Shogun for a moment, who was clawing at the ground to issue a challenge. Compared to the Fennekin he was ordered to fight before, this certainly was a more interesting and unique challenge. But even at a glance he could see clearly the massive power gap between them. This wouldn't be a challenge, at best it'd be a slaughter. He looked back at Elizabeth with an annoyed glance, only to see her eyes widen in realization.

"Machamp, stop them now!" she ordered, much to his surprise. He wondered why she was suddenly so panicked, only to hear Saito given Shogun his command.

"Shogun, use Roar!"

Machamp's eyes widened as he shot around towards the diminutive Tyrunt. The Roar was already building in Shogun's throat, and Machamp barely had time to take a few steps before a low rumble was once again unleashed. Inexplicable, inescapable fear struck Machamp, and all he wanted to do was get away. He retreated into his Pokéball, while Elizabeth could only stare in silent shock. A heavy silence hung over the battlefield, and slowly Elizabeth leveled her gaze towards Saito.

"That was your plan the entire time," she realized and spoke aloud. "Had I started with Machamp to begin with, you would've just used Roar to send him away. Until he was the only one left."

Saito looked back at her, then nodded. "Yep. I knew Machamp was your strongest Pokémon and trying to take him on one v. one was a fool's game. But if I could get him down to a four v. one…"

Elizabeth clenched her fists and growled, both at the boy before her and at herself. How could she be so stupid? She sabotaged herself unnecessarily, and now the boy before her was much closer to clinching out a victory. A heavy pause filled the air, both trainers glaring at the other, and it was only broken by Elizabeth pulling out Eevee's Pokéball and releasing her starter onto the battle field.

"Let's go, Eevee!" Elizabeth declared. Now released from the Pokéball, Eevee stretched out her limbs and looked around the battlefield lazily. That changed as soon as the Stealth Rock kicked in, bombarding her from all sides with sharp rocks. She fell to her knees in pain, breathing heavily once the bombardment ceased. She then raised her head up to face Shogun, and her eyes widened as the Tyrunt was already charging at her with his mouth opened wide. She barely leapt to the side, avoiding the snapping jaws, and landed on all four feet before growling at Shogun. Shogun swiveled his head to level a glare at her in turn, lowly growling as he turned his body to face her.

"Please listen, just this once," Elizabeth whispered to herself as she shot her arm forward. "Eevee, start off with Swift!"

"Shogun, use Bite!" Saito ordered at the same time. Shogun roared in response as he charged towards Eevee, but instead of his opponent bombarding him with Swift, she instead disobeyed her trainer and charged forward as well.

"Eevee, no!" Elizabeth protested, but her starter had no intention of listening to her trainer. Using her small body, she jumped over his head and landed on his back before using Bite on the base of his neck. Her teeth barely sank into his hard, rock-like scales, and Shogun began to shake his body from side to side in a bid to get her off. Eevee merely dug her paws into his flanks, trying to keep a grip as the shaking got worse and worse.

Then, after several moments, Shogun managed to catch the edge of her forelimb in his jaws, and with a powerful yank, he pulled her off of his body and threw her to the side.

"Yes!" Saito yelled, pumping his fist in victory. "Shogun, follow up with Tackle!"

Shogun was already charging by the time Eevee managed to pick herself off the ground, and by then it was too late. The larger Tyrunt slammed into her, sending her skidding back. Before she could get too far, Saito ordered his Pokémon to use Bite, and Eevee felt her back be clenched by powerful jaws and sharp fangs. Now holding firmly onto her, Shogun shook Eevee back and forth violently, using his teeth as saws. She thrashed and clawed at Shogun's face, trying to pry herself loose, but he didn't budge. Finally, he slammed her to the ground, knocking the breath out of her lungs.

"Eevee, get up!" Elizabeth demanded, watching helplessly as Eevee tried to recover. Her opponent, however, had on intention of having that happen.

"Shogun, finish her off with Stomp," Saito calmly ordered. Shogun immediately proceeded to so do, raising up his foot above Eevee's body and slamming it down hard. He did so repeatedly, preventing Eevee from even thinking of retaliating, and he only stopped when Eevee no longer tried. She was unconscious now, and Shogun nodded at his trainer before stepping away.

"No…" Elizabeth muttered, looking towards her starter regretfully. She leveled an angered glare towards Saito as she returned her Pokémon, but Saito didn't do so with his. His face still had that insufferable confidence on it, and Elizabeth wanted nothing more than to wipe it off.

"Alright," she began. "You wanted a four-on-one, now you got it. Machamp, finish them!" Elizabeth called out as she released Machamp once again onto the battlefield. As before, Machamp ignored the Stealth Rock bombarding his body as he instead leveled a glare towards the diminutive Tyrunt before him. No longer was he looking at his opponent as a waste of his skill. This Tyrunt had forced him to flee like a coward, and that wouldn't stand at all. So, even if he still didn't fully respect Elizabeth as his trainer, he'd listen to her for this battle as it was clearly worth his time and effort. Elizabeth recognized this and let out a confident grin, then shot her arm forward towards Tyrunt.

"Alright, Machamp! Put that Tyrunt in place with Vital Throw!" Elizabeth ordered. Machamp spread his four arms wide and charged towards his opponent, and Saito knew Shogun wouldn't be able to get away in time.

"Shogun, use Ancient Power!" Saito ordered, hoping to at least damage the Machamp somewhat. Knowing where his trainer was going, Shogun stayed rooted in place and concentrated. He felt the rocks and rubble around him swirl and coalesce into large rocks, forming patterns vaguely shaped like ancient fossils on their faces as he let his heritage run through them. Once they were large enough, he shot the rocks forward as hard as he could and watched as they shattered against Machamp's muscular body. The only indication that they did anything was seeing the Superpower Pokémon grunt slightly from the pain, and that was enough for Shogun. He did his part to serve the pack, and so when Machamp picked him up, twirled him around, and hurled him into the wall, it was with a smile on his face.

Shogun struck the wall with enough force to embed him into it, and he was knocked out instantly. Saito, despite knowing this was the likely outcome, sighed regretfully and returned his Pokémon.

"Sorry, Shogun. I'll make it up to you, I promise," Saito said as he shrunk Shogun's Pokéball and pulled out another. "Let's go, Tanuki!"

The energetic Riolu was released onto the battlefield, and he bounced in place before Machamp. Part of Machamp wanted to dismiss the Riolu, but he wasn't going to make that mistake again. Especially with what he knew of a Riolu's inherent strength. As before, he readied himself, waiting for Elizabeth's command, which she eagerly gave.

"Machamp, use Superpower!" Elizabeth ordered. Machamp charged forward, his fists beginning to glow with intense energy, but Tanuki merely paused and closed his eyes. Just as Machamp got close, however, Tanuki shot away in a quick burst of speed, causing the four glowing fists to crater the ground instead.

"Yes!" Saito cheered. "Good job, Tanuki! Now, strike fast and hard with Quick Attack and Force Palm!"

Tanuki nodded towards his trainer, and again disappeared in a quick burst of speed. He shot towards Machamp's face, too fast for him to counter, and the Superpower Pokémon felt an aura-infused paw strike across his cheek. It shot to the side, absorbing the blow, but before he could retaliate, Tanuki was already gone. He whirled around, trying to find his opponent, only to hear a faint whistle of air from behind. Then he felt a blow strike against the back of his knees, and he fell to the ground onto them. His head then shot up as Tanuki uppercutted him, knocking Machamp back as the Riolu retreated.

"Grrgh!" Elizabeth growled, grinding her teeth in frustration. "Machamp, stop messing around and stop that Riolu!"

Machamp shot Elizabeth an irritated look. Before he could think of responding to her, however, he felt another blow against he back of his head, sending him down once again. He quickly picked himself up and snarled in angered annoyance before circling his head around the arena, trying to find Tanuki. Just before another attack struck his chest, he saw a faint blur with a light-blue tint. His eyes tracked the blur, seeing it stop for a moment to reveal Tanuki doing a three-point rest before disappearing once again. This time, as Tanuki got closer, Machamp shot his arms forward using Superpower, aiming to cut Tanuki off. The Riolu barely managed to dodge, weaving between the arms and striking Machamp in the face once again before retreating.

When Tanuki returned for another pass, this time Machamp was ready. He threw out his arms, and as Tanuki tried to dodge, he maneuvered them just right so that a single Superpower punch was able to strike the Riolu's gut. The one blow was enough, and Tanuki was flung across the arena and landed in a crumpled heap next to Elizabeth's feet.

"Yes! Finally!" Elizabeth cheered as Saito returned his Pokémon. He muttered a quick word of thanks, then took a moment to look upon Machamp. The Fighting-Type was clearly injured now, breathing slightly more heavily, and his shoulders slightly sagged. Despite the fact that Machamp was clearly powerful enough to knock out his Pokémon in one hit, so far Saito's strategy was working. He pulled out another Pokéball, enlarging it in his fingers, then threw it out onto the battlefield.

"Come on, Ronin! Let's do this!" Saito declared, releasing his starter onto the battlefield. Ronin emerged on his knees, then slowly rose up and unsheathed his scalchop. He dangled it to the side, leveling a neutral, challenging gaze towards Machamp. The Superpower Pokémon met it head on, and both opponents nodded towards each other in respect. Then, at a moment, both trainers issued their commands.

"Machamp, use Submission!"

"Ronin, dodge then use Water Pulse!"

Machamp charged towards Ronin, throwing his fists forward as the Oshawatt jumped backwards to dodge. At the same time, he formed a sphere of water on his scalchop, and once it was large enough, he hurled it towards Machamp's chest. The pulsating water exploded like a grenade, sending Machamp skidding back and covering his eyes with water. He attempted to rub them dry, only to feel an intense jet of water shoot into his face.

"Keep using Water Gun, Ronin!" Saito ordered. Ronin mentally acknowledged the command and kept up the intense stream of water, but to his growing alarm, Machamp was beginning to inch himself forward against the stream. Ronin kept at it, nervousness growing with each of Machamp's heavy steps, and once the Superpower Pokémon got close enough Saito ordered his starter to cease and run away. Ronin gladly did so, running to the side as Machamp recovered and struck the ground where Ronin previously was.

"Rapid-fire Water Pulses, Ronin!" Saito ordered, and Ronin began forming pulsating orbs of water to shot towards his opponent. The water exploded against Machamp, first his back then his shoulders and chest as he recovered and charged towards Ronin. Another Water Pulse was shot towards Machamp, only this time he sideswiped it away with the back of his top-left hand. Eyes wide, Ronin barely blocked a kick with his scalchop, acting as shield, but despite the effort Ronin still felt the air leave his lungs as he was knocked back across the arena.

"Ronin!" Saito shouted in worry as Ronin came to a stop, but to his relief he saw Ronin shakily begin to stand up. "Thank goodness. Are you still fit to fight, buddy?"

Ronin looked towards Saito and nodded affirmatively, and Saito nodded back before focusing his gaze on Machamp. The Superpower Pokémon was turning towards Ronin, clearly intending to finish the Oshawatt off, and Saito knew his starter wouldn't last another hit. They only had a few more attacks before it would be over, and they had to make it count.

"Alright then," Saito muttered just as Machamp began to charge. Ronin patiently waited for his trainer to issue a command, and just as Machamp reached his opponent, Saito shouted, "Use Revenge!"

"Machamp, stop!" Elizabeth shouted, but it was too late. Machamp's fist was going too fast, and Ronin had already dug in his feet. The Oshawatt knew this attack would finish him, but as he felt the blow strike against his side, his scalchop was racing towards Machamp's chin. The edge was glowing in a dark violet energy, and Machamp's attack boosted its intensity immensely. Machamp felt himself fly back halfway across the arena, skidding along his back as Ronin was knocked away. Before his unconscious body could come to a hard stop, Saito returned his starter and turned his gaze towards Machamp. He was still on his back, but in a daze, the Fighting-Type rose back to his feet. Saito saw Elizabeth let out a relieved sigh, and the heiress then turned her gaze towards him.

"We won't be put down that easily," she declared, and Saito shook his head.

"Wasn't expecting you to," he admitted. He had certainly hoped the attacks thus far would've been enough, but Machamp was still standing. He was on his last legs, however, and a noticeable sway was in Machamp's stance. That was good, in Saito's eyes, but he didn't know if Elizabeth noticed it. Saito's hands then turned towards his belt, and he paused. Not including the Pokémon Egg still in the hotel room, he had two Pokémon left to choose from. This left the boy in a conundrum, as one was clearly better suited towards fighting the Machamp than the other. But it was just as likely to fail spectacularly as he couldn't guarantee Maindo would even listen to him. This was a Pokémon Battle, not a life or death fight against Team Flare.

In the end, he decided that he couldn't risk it, and so Saito moved his hand away from Maindo's Pokéball and pulled out another.

"Let's finish this, Tengu!" Saito declared, releasing the Seedot onto the battlefield. Elizabeth took one look at the acorn-like Pokémon and was utterly flabbergasted. Why would Saito choose a practically immobile Seedot to fight against an extremely powerful Machamp when he had a more applicable Ralts to do so for him? It didn't make any sense, but in the end Elizabeth shrugged. If he wanted to hand her a victory, she'd let him.

"Alright, Machamp, put that Seedot out of its misery. Use Karate Chop!" Elizabeth ordered. Machamp, unlike Elizabeth, wasn't discounting the Seedot whatsoever. If there was anything he'd learned from fighting this trainer, it was that his Pokémon were full of surprises. He couldn't afford to count his Torchics before they hatched, and so he resolved to end this fight as quickly as he could. He flattened his palms and raised them up before charging towards Tengu, intending to finish the Seedot quickly, but Saito was ready.

"Sunny Day, then Solar Beam!" Saito ordered. Tengu obliged, sending a ball of intense heat into the air. Almost immediately, Saito, Elizabeth, and the assembled spectators felt sweat begin to form, but the trainers and Pokémon were more focused on the quickly gathered solar energy being formed in front of Tengu's face. The sphere of energy exploded in a lime-green laser, striking Machamp in the chest and sending him skidding back.

"Follow up with Bullet Seed!" Saito ordered, throwing his arm forward. Aiming the top of her acorn cap towards Machamp, Tengu fired a hail of small seeds towards Machamp. The first volley managed to strike the Fighting-Type, but Machamp quickly managed to bring his arms up in front of him to block the rest. With his body shielded, Machamp began to run against the Bullet Seed, prompting Tengu to up the intensity. It wasn't enough, however, and Tengu felt her body lift off the ground as Machamp kicked her away. Her small body bounced and rolled across the dirt, stopping near the edge of the field, and Saito shot his head to her in concern.

"Tengu, are you okay?" he asked as Tengu struggled to pick herself up. She shot him a look, and Saito nodded back before looking back up at the still-active Sunny Day. "Alright, let's patch you up with Synthesis."

Not needing to be told twice, Tengu focused towards the Sunny Day as she let the assembled solar energy rejuvenate her body. Her wounds disappearing, she turned to see Machamp charging towards her once again. Just before he could attack, however, Tengu unleased a second Solar Beam at near point-blank range, sending the Superpower Pokémon hurtling back.

"Machamp!" Elizabeth shouted in worry, now seeing how injured her strongest Pokémon was. His arms were shaking as he lifted himself off the ground, and dark bruises were easily visible across his muscular body. Still, she and Machamp were confident they could win this, and so they turned towards Saito once again.

"Okay, let's finish this with Superpower!" Elizabeth ordered. Once again, Machamp's fists glowed as he raced towards Tengu. The first few steps were rough, but he soon reached his stride and was running at full tilt. Saito, meanwhile, began to form a plan in his head, and motioned for Tengu to turn towards him. She did so, and at his slow nod, she understood exactly what he was wanting him to do. She did one last quick Synthesis, healing the last of her wounds, and braced herself.

The impact of the Superpower nearly knocked the air out of her lungs. It knocked her clean back, sending her rolling across the arena. The tip of her cap managed to gain enough of a hold to stop herself, and she struggled to raise upward. Machamp looked at the Seedot in surprise, but soon groaned as he prepared to attack again. His fists glowed, and he charged towards Tengu with every intention to finish this fight once and for all.

' _Wait for it,_ ' Saito thought, watching as Machamp grew closer and closer. ' _Wait for it…Now!'_

"Tengu, release the Bide!" Saito ordered just as Machamp prepared to attack. The Superpower Pokémon's eyes widened in surprise as a white orb of glowing energy formed atop Tengu's head, and he tried to halt his momentum, but it was too late. The orb exploded, and an attack twice as strong as what he just inflicted on Tengu hit him squarely across his entire body. He was flung back, unable to stop himself and he landed in a crumpled heap in front of Elizabeth. She watched in horror as her Pokémon's smoking body laid there. Machamp tried to push himself off the ground, but then his muscles gave way, and he collapsed into unconsciousness.

It was over. A numb feeling consumed Elizabeth to the point where she didn't even return Machamp to his Pokéball. She had lost, completely and utterly. The fact that Tengu was on her last legs was of no consolation, and she didn't know what to do. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to win, to wipe that look off of Saito's face, yet now she couldn't.

Silently, Saito walked over to Tengu and rubbed affectionately the top of her head. She leaned into it, appreciative of the attention, then he returned her to her Pokéball so that she could rest. He then stood up, frowning towards the stunned Elizabeth as the spectators began to disperse. Now that the battle was over, there wasn't much reason for them to continue. Soon, the two of them would be alone, and Saito wondered what to say. Part of him wanted to rub it in her face, but another part felt she wasn't worth it. Only when Elizabeth finally returned Machamp did she return his gaze, and he saw the anger begin to boil up from within her.

Before either of them could say or do anything else, however, they heard a cough come from the spectator stands. They turned their heads towards the source, only to see a thoroughly irritated and disappointed Louise standing there with Derflinger floating next to her head. Her arms were crossed, and a deep scowl was etched across her face.

"Now then," Louise began, not waiting for them to respond, "are you two quite finished? Good. Now, let's go and _chat,_ shall we?"

[~][~]

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the latest chapter of Outsiders! Special thanks to Darwin Candidate, Grendel4823, wildrook, and Yuri Vampire for all their help with bringing this chapter to life. We got an exciting battle between Saito and Elizabeth, and although Saito did ultimately win, it was simply because Saito was simply a better trainer than Elizabeth was. Next we have the aftermath, and things are going to get interesting.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **TheLastBattalion:** I do plan on showing how Halkegenia is reacting eventually.

 **Celestia's Paladin:** Yep, that was a bit of Detective Pikachu there. Felt it was appropriate, same with the whole 'actions have consequences' thing. And a bit of realism/reality ensues is always a good thing.

 **.549:** Remember, humans aren't always the most logical beings. Emotions are fickle, and they can be stretched to the breaking point. That's what happened here, and know that Saito was supposed to be in the wrong with his accusation towards Elizabeth.

 **BanalCrepe:** Actually, Janet was entirely in the right here. Elizabeth made a mistake in letting Louise do what she wanted, just as Louise made a mistake in continuing on in the first place. Had Janet known Louise, and was able to talk to her, she probably would've done the same thing to Louise.

 **DPSS:** As above, the intention was to show that Saito's emotions got stretched to the breaking point here, and he just wanted to lash out at something, anything, to alleviate them. Elizabeth was just the poor, unfortunate target. He wasn't supposed to be in the right in this case.

 **Austin8848:** Maybe, we haven't decided yet.

 **Vein Bloodborne:** Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. The whole Saito/Louise dynamic is one of my favorite things about this story, so I'm happy that it's coming across well.

Well, that's it for this chapter. We hope you all enjoy it, and let us know what you think! See you all next time!


	53. Season 1, Episode 11, Chapter 4

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 11, Chapter 4**

[~][~]

Louise calmly sipped her tea, not saying a word as Saito and Elizabeth sat across from her. Neither said anything, not wanting to anger Louise any further. At the same time, they kept their attention entirely focused on her, only seeing the other out of the corner of their eyes. Louise's eyes, meanwhile, were closed, but even then Saito and Elizabeth could feel Louise's glare on them.

Finally, after several agonizing minutes of silence, Louise finished drinking her tea and gently placed her cup down. Her eyes were still closed, and she then slowly opened them to reveal a blazing pink that bored into Saito's and Elizabeth's souls.

"Now, before I start," Louise began, "I want to know _exactly_ why the two of you decided to start a Pokémon battle. Esprit will tell me if you are lying, so don't bother."

Louise gestured to the Kirlia in question, who happily waved before a sideways glance from Louise prompted her go back a stern expression. At the same time, Esprit's eyes kept bouncing between her trainer and the two subjects of her wrath, honestly wondering where this was going.

"When one is speaking," the rosette continued, "the other will not speak. If you don't, you will be punished accordingly. Do I make myself clear?"

For a moment, Saito and Elizabeth remained silent. When Louise's glare intensified, both trainers nodded quickly, prompting Louise to flash a satisfied, faux smile.

"Splendid!" Louise clapped her hands together, her smile doing nothing to mask her sinister intent, and she shifted her focus to Saito. "Now then, Saito? Please tell me exactly what happened. Start when we arrived at the hotel, please."

"…Alright," Saito began, taking a deep gulp and smacking her lips. "After we settled in and you fell asleep, I took both of our Pokédexes and started disassembling them. I was worried about those fake nurses messing with them. When I didn't find anything, I took them to a nearby electronics shop and convinced the owner to double-check them."

Saito paused and took a deep breath. A bubble of rage threatened to erupt again, but he kept it down. It was obvious to him now that his rage is what got him into this mess in the first place, and the last thing he needed was for it to get him into even more trouble.

"He found bugs in both of them," Saito revealed. "I smashed both, then I just go so…angry. Angry at what Flare did, angry that I left you alone in the first place, and I left to try and cool down."

"That didn't work…" Elizabeth mumbled, only to suddenly feel a sharp pain atop her head. She looked up, rubbing the point of impact, to see Aile fluttering back to a resting point on top of a nearby light pole. The Fletchinder was eying the verdette dangerously, as though daring her to say anything else. Elizabeth wisely chose to stay silent.

Saito, meanwhile, continued. "While I was walking the city, I ended up coming across Elizabeth. When I saw her, I remembered how you got injured, got sick and…" Saito couldn't finish the last part, and neither Louise or Elizabeth could blame him.

"I started shouting at her about everything that happened. Then, Elizabeth decided to challenge me to a Pokémon battle. I accepted, as trainers are supposed to do, and I easily won. There isn't anything more to it than that," Saito finished, then fell silent. Louise nodded, then turned her attention towards Elizabeth. She straightened herself, preparing for Louise's question, while Louise herself simply stared her down.

"Now, Elizabeth?" Louise began. "Please start from the hospital."

Elizabeth pressed flat her dress, then nodded. "After we separated from the hospital, I went back to my apartment and changed. I started walking around the city to collect my thoughts when I got a call from the PWE agency. When I got there, one of my colleagues was waiting for me. She…revealed some things to me."

"Like how you almost got Louise killed?" Saito rhetorically asked, only to shout in pain as Aile pecked him on the top of his head. He rubbed it and glared at the Fletchinder but allowed Elizabeth to continue unimpeded. Elizabeth shot him a look from the corner of her eye, but soon sighed and looked down.

"Yes, actually," she revealed. "She told me that when Louise got poisoned, I should've dropped what I was doing and gotten you to safety. Instead, I let my anger and pride nearly get you killed. After that, I started walking around Cyllage when Saito accosted me. He told me that the hospital you got sent to was staffed by disguised members of Team Flare, that they stole your DNA. I was horrified, obviously, but then he started blaming _me_ for it, for no reason. I didn't even care that there were people around us, I just got so enraged that I cut him off and challenged him to a battle just to shut him up. A battle that I lost, badly. Then you showed up, and now we're here."

Seeing how both Saito and Elizabeth were done speaking, another silence fell over the table. Louise slowly nodded, bringing her hands together and straightening them.

"I see," Louise finally said, slowly nodding. Saito and Elizabeth stayed silent, waiting for Louise to respond. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, then opened them and lowered her hands.

"You're both idiots," Louise finally declared, causing Saito and Elizabeth to wince. "Both of you. Saito, you had every right to be angry about what Flare did. If I was in your shoes, I would've felt the same. But Elizabeth did not deserve to be accused by you for something she didn't do. She wasn't at fault for Flare's actions. Only Flare was.

"And Elizabeth," Louise turned her attention to the verdette, who quickly wiped the satisfied look off her face, "you should've been the bigger person and ignored Saito, allowing the both of you to calm down. More importantly," Louise leaned forward, "the two of you have been at each other's throats ever since the Riviere Daycare. Now, I understand why neither of you like the other. Saito, you don't like Elizabeth because she manipulated you in an attempt to get petty revenge on me."

Elizabeth winced as that shameful memory came springing back up. Louise, meanwhile, turned her attention towards Elizabeth and continued.

"Elizabeth, you don't like Saito because he accidentally disfigured you when your deception was found out. I will not deny that these are perfectly valid reasons to dislike the other, and I'm not expecting the two of you to suddenly become friends. But I will not allow the two of you to do something stupid because you simply don't like each other. Furthermore, the two of you are forgetting one key thing about this entire situation."

Louise paused, then stared both Saito and Elizabeth down. "What happened to me wasn't Elizabeth's fault. It wasn't Saito's fault, either. It was mine."

Saito and Elizabeth shot Louise a pair of shocked expression, but Louise cut them off with a raised finger.

"Let me finish," Louise ordered, preventing the other two from saying anything. "It's my fault for one simple reason: I let my pride blind me to the danger I was in. It was me who decided to press on, it was me who decided to ignore the fact that I was poisoned, and it was me who fled in a complete panic when the toxin proved to be too much. I made a mistake, and I'll be damned before I let you take that away from me. Do you understand?"

Saito and Elizabeth were shocked into silence. Yet, the more Saito thought about it, the more he began to understand. Louise was, perhaps a little unjustly in Saito's opinion, taking full responsibility for the entire event. For Elizabeth, although she didn't know Louise as well as Saito did, the gears in her head were turning, and she was coming to the same conclusion as Saito.

"Louise, no!" Elizabeth began just as Saito started to protest as well.

"That's not what happened!" Saito protested, but Louise shook her head fervently.

"Yes, it was, and nothing either of you can say will change my mind," Louise finished then glared at the two trainers before her. Her gaze held no room for argument, and although Saito and Elizabeth wanted to protest further, they both knew doing so was a pointless. So, they sighed and hung their heads, giving Louise the 'victory' she desired.

"Now then," Louise straightened herself and placed her hands against the table, "before you two apologize to each other for how you acted, I'm going to say a few words."

* * *

Due to the fact that Elizabeth was still afraid of him and his entire evolutionary line, Derflinger was forced to watch the spectacle from across the street. Entire thing was quite interesting to watch, in his opinion at least. It probably wasn't to them. The looks on their faces was more than enough to make that observation.

Still, watching Louise descend into a profanity-lidden rant, all in her native language, easily proved to be the best moment Derflinger had seen yet.

"Wow," Derflinger said as he watched Louise continue cursing Saito and Elizabeth out, "Pinky has a _colorful_ vocabulary."

* * *

After Louse finished her rant, she forced the two troublemakers to apologize to the other. Reluctantly, and with Louise giving the two of them the evil eye, Saito and Elizabeth did so. It was then that the three separated, Saito going with Louise and Elizabeth going on her own.

Saito walked with Louise in silence, ruminating over his actions. Before, when he and Elizabeth were battling, he earnestly believed that he was in the right. Elizabeth was with Louise when she got injured, and instead of helping she pursued a personal vendetta. _She_ challenged _him_ , so he wasn't at fault for destroying her. Yet, after having Louise chew him out, first in Unovan then quickly descending into a curse-filled Gallian, he was forced to reevaluate his position. The more he thought about it, the more he began to realize that, perhaps, he was in the wrong.

It was hard for him to admit it, but eventually he couldn't ignore the truth any longer. Removing the cloud of anger that led him into conflict with Elizabeth, Saito found that he had gone after Elizabeth completely unprovoked. Him accusing her of wrongdoing was wrong, hurtful even. It was no wonder Elizabeth was enraged enough to challenge him to a battle. What he did was borderline slander. With that in mind, his hard-earned victory over Elizabeth felt much more bittersweet than it did before. Saito then looked at the back of Louise's head as they continued to walk towards Grant's gym. The silence was now growing unbearable for the boy, and he felt compelled to say something.

"Louise, I—" he began, only for the rosette to cut him off with a raised hand.

"Don't. You have nothing to apologize to me about," she declared. Saito shamefully looked down and away, and he heard Louise sigh as she turned around. "Look, I'll be the first to admit that ever since I arrived here, I've made plenty of mistakes. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that when we make them, we have to make sure that they don't happen again. Otherwise, what's the point?"

"…Yeah, I suppose you're right," Saito quietly said. Louise lightly smiled, then stepped forward and wrapped Saito in a hug. He returned the gesture, and the noblewoman patted her best friend on the shoulder twice before separating.

"Come on, let's go find Grant," Louise told him. Saito nodded, then the two of them continued their walk towards Grant's Pokémon Gym. As they did, they saw more and more construction crews continue their repair of the city. They repaired cracked pavement, replaced broken glass, and refilled holes in walls. Saito and Louise could tell it was going to be a long, arduous process, but at the same time they could tell that, in the end, everything would turn out alright.

Finally, after nearly an hour of walking, the two trainers finally arrived at Grant's Gym. It, like the rest of the surrounding blocks, was relatively untouched, but they knew appearances could be deceiving. Walking up to the automatic doors, they split apart to grant Saito and Louise entry. Inside they saw a bustling center of activity as gym trainers, police officers, and city workers organize themselves into various groups before hurrying out of the center. It quickly became obvious that the Cyllage Pokémon Gym had become a headquarters for the city's recovery efforts. Sifting through the crowds, they eventually found Grant leaning over a desk, maps and computers next to him.

"We've got the next loads of tools and materials ready for the Beachfront, South Side, and Mountain districts. Send some people to deliver them and have them stay to assist in the reconstruction," Grant ordered to a few aides. They quickly nodded before rushing off, offering a quick apology as Saito and Louise moved out of their way. The two trainers didn't mind, instead taking the opportunity to move closer to Grant.

"Grant?" Louise called out, catching the Gym Leader's attention. He looked around for the source, and when he saw Louise and Saito, he sighed in relief.

"Louise, Saito," Grant replied, getting off the table and offering his hand to the two trainers. Saito took it first, shaking it firmly before Louise did the same.

"It's good to see you two," Grant declared once he let go of Louise's hand. "Louise, are you alright?"

"As well as I can be," Louise admitted, and Grant nodded in understanding.

"Good, good. I'm glad to hear that." Grant then placed his hands on his hips and sighed while shaking his head. "Look, I know why you're here, but I'm sorry. I'm not taking any challenges for the moment. I have my hands full as it is."

"We figured," Saito admitted. "We just wanted to know for how long, that way we could decide—"

"Whether you should wait it out or keep going, right?" Grant asked. When Saito nodded, Grant nodded back. "Right, right. Luckily, with how things are going, I should be ready to accept challenges in a week. After that, we can have that challenge."

Louise thought it over, then nodded. "That sounds good to me. We'll get out of your hair, now."

"Thank you. Stay safe, you two," Grant requested. Louise and Saito nodded, then the two of them then left the Pokémon Gym, allowing the workers to continue unimpeded, and they walked to a nearby hill to stare out over the sea. As they felt a salty breeze wash over their faces, they closed their eyes and took deep breaths.

"So," Saito began, "what do you want to do?"

Louise, her eyes closed, scrunched her brow in thought. What did she want to do? The way she saw it, there were two options before her. Either she and Saito continued on to Shalour City, which she imagined would take at least a week, or they stuck around to wait on Grant. Both had certain appeals, but in the end they could only choose one. Finally, after a few moments, Louise made up her mind and opened her eyes.

"I think we should stay," Louise declared with conviction. "Besides, after the past few weeks, staying in one place for a while sounds appealing to me."

"You and me, both," Saito agreed, leaning back and resting his weight on his hands. "Besides, we can probably use the week to train a bit more. After today, I doubt Grant's even going to think about holding back on us."

Louise couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head. "Yeah, and I wouldn't want him to."

* * *

Elizabeth sat nervously at the large conference room table in the PWE headquarters. Versus was sitting at the head of the table, with Janet sitting next to him with an eerily composed expression. Raven was nowhere to be seen, which the verdette wasn't surprised by. Erina was there, though, along with many other people Elizabeth didn't recognize. Everyone was silent, waiting for Versus to start, who himself was resting his hands together on the table. Finally, with a cough to clear his throat, Versus stood up and silently directed everyone's attention towards him.

"Right, so, first things first," Versus began. "All PWE events in Cyllage are hereby suspended until the Cyllage City Council declares the city's recovered enough. I will not have our entertainment venues take away much needed resources."

"Agreed," Janet replied, followed by a chorus of similar responses. Elizabeth joined as well, but she couldn't help but notice that Erina was noticeably silent. She didn't quite know whether that was because Erina disagreed with Versus' assessment, or if she was simply worried about Raven. If Elizabeth knew Erina, it was probably a little of both. Versus nodded at their responses, then he turned his attention towards Elizabeth, which made her straighten her back a bit.

"Elizabeth," Versus continued, "I'm afraid that we're going to have to postpone your debut. I'm sorry, but now isn't the time."

"I understand, sir." To be honest, Elizabeth would've been angry if Versus _tried_ to force her debut through. There was a time and place for everything, and now certainly wasn't the time to introduce her wrestling persona to the world. At the same time, Elizabeth noticed a conspicuous lack of mention towards her conduct during the battle against Coda. Judging from the look on Janet's face, it probably was a factor in her debut being postponed, just one that Versus didn't feel mentioning if only to save her face. She could appreciate that, if nothing else.

"However," Versus said, cutting off her thoughts, "we have a solution. Instead of debuting you in Cyllage, Elizabeth, instead you will be put on tour."

"On tour?" Elizabeth asked, not quite expecting this development.

"Yes, a tour. Specifically, a Kalosian Coastline Tour. Starting two weeks from now, you will have an exhibition match in Geosenge Town, just north of here. There, you will participate in a few local matches, then make your way further up the coast towards Shalour to do the same. Then you'll go to Coumarine, then finally you'll have your formal debut at a proper event in Lumiose. Does that work for you?"

Elizabeth knew that, even if it was phrased as a request, Versus' statement was anything but.

"Of course, sir. That works perfectly."

"Splendid!" Versus clapped his hands together, then went on to the next point of the meeting. Elizabeth, however, felt her attention drift away from the meeting altogether and back towards the battle she had against Saito. Now removed from the event for a few hours, Elizabeth could recognize it for what it was. That wasn't a battle. It was a slaughter. Saito absolutely destroyed her, and the only reason why she even got close was because she had Machamp on hand. A Pokémon that she didn't even train herself. It was humiliating, but at the same time Elizabeth a new sense of drive and resolve fill her soul.

She knew why Saito destroyed her. Although she still didn't like the boy, she could both understand and respect the fact that he was a better trainer than her. He trained his Pokémon extensively, learned their strengths and weaknesses then worked to either accommodate or circumvent them. More importantly, outside of his Ralts (which she now realized was probably the reason why Saito didn't use him during the battle) all of his Pokémon listened to him without question. He had their loyalty, whereas he only had the loyalty of two of hers. Eevee still didn't listen to her, while Machamp only listened if he felt it was worth his time.

' _No,_ ' she thought, clenching her fist tightly under the table. ' _If I'm going to call myself a Pokémon Trainer, much less a Pokémon Wrestler, I can't afford to be lackadaisical in my efforts. Not again._ '

So, as Versus continued to discuss the PWE's plans for the future, Elizabeth began to think and plan. If she was going to succeed, she was going to have to do something she never truly did before: she was going to have to train, and with her first exhibition match just a few weeks away, she didn't have time to waste.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! I hope you all had some Happy Holidays. To help celebrate, here's the latest chapter of Outsiders! Special thanks to Darwin Candidate, Grendel4823, wildrook, and Yuri Vampire for all their help bringing this chapter to life.

The Flare Saga has now come to a close and our heroes have emerged as battered but better people because of it. Now they move on to the next phase of their journey: the battle against Grant. I think you guys are going to like what we have planned going forward.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **DRMAK:** As you can see, that's exactly what happened. And yeah, Saito wasn't thinking clearly, which he realized after Louise's colorful rant.

 **.549:** Oh, she did. She most certainly did. And yeah, Saito was supposed to be in the wrong here, even though he won.

 **Snowybirb:** That was a typo which has since been fixed. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

 **DPSS:** I'm glad you felt that way. It was what I was going for, after all.

 **Vein Bloodborne:** Yep, Louise had to play the voice of reason, which is a departure from how she's normally been portrayed. I'm happy with how it all turned out, and honestly Louise's growth as a person is one of my favorite things about this story.

 **keybladelight:** The Saito/Louise relationship is part of the core of this story, and we want to delve deep into it. This was a good way to help show that.

Well, that's it for this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed and let me know what you all think! See you all next time!


	54. Season 1, Episode 12, Chapter 1

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 12, Chapter 1**

[~][~]

A loud, incessant beeping stirred Louise awake. She blinked her eyes a few times before sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Then the noblewoman yawned and stretched out her arms, smacking her lips as she lazily gazed around the room. Saito was still dead asleep, not that she blamed him. Part of her wanted to go back to sleep as well, but she shook her head and stood up instead.

Grabbing an empty glass, Louise filled it with water then grabbed two of her pills. She downed both at the same time with a quick drink, shuddering at the feeling of a solid lump traveling down her throat. Something told her she'd have to get used to that, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Everything was still in shades of black and white, which she knew would be the state of her world for the foreseeable future. A somber reminder of the mistakes she'd made, ones she would never repeat if she could help it.

Louise then grabbed a change of clothes and walked into their hotel room's bathroom. Closing the door behind her, she entered the shower and quickly bathed herself. She let the hot water rejuvenate her body, and again she was reminded of the wonders of modern Kalosian infrastructure. They had nothing like this back on Halkegenia, not even Romalia and its expansive aqueducts and bathhouses. Even then, just to get hot water required teams of fire mages or servants lighting coal or firewood underneath the floors, a process that could take hours. Here, they just ran the water through pipes into a heater then back out again. It only took a few minutes. When she finally got back home, she would have to find some way to introduce this to Tristain, if only for her sake. Louise didn't want to give up the modern luxuries she could now easily afford.

When she was done, Louise shut off the water and grabbed a towel to dry herself off. Wrapping her hair in another towel, she changed into her clothes and walked out into the room, where she saw Saito sluggishly rise off the bed with half-lidded eyes.

"Shower's free," Louise said. Saito said nothing and nodded before grabbing his own clothes and stumbling into the bathroom. A moment later, Louise heard the water begin running, and she turned her attention away to focus on touching herself up. She dried her hair then began to brush it, slowly returning her rosy locks to the nice, smooth state that she had grown accustomed to. When she was finished, Louise couldn't help but run her fingers through her long hair, humming to herself in thought. She then shrugged before tying her headband around her head, clamping her hair in place and preventing it from getting in the way.

Rather than do anything, Louise patiently waited on her bed, Brennaraki sitting on her lap as she quietly watched TV. She avoided the news stations as she already knew what they were talking about. Given how she lived it, Louise felt no need to be bombarded with more information. All she knew was that things were slowly getting better, and that was alright with her. Instead, she was watching a light-hearted animated comedy about a group of teenagers and their cowardly Arcanine solving mysteries involving people dressed up as monsters. Louise had only watched a few episodes, but already she was hooked and was quite enjoying it.

When the water shut off, Louise stopped watching her program and turned her attention towards the bathroom. A minute later, she saw Saito walk out while rubbing his eyes. They locked eyes, then each trainer nodded towards the other as Saito sat down on his bed. At first, neither said anything, Louise turned her head back towards the TV, then she began to speak.

"So," Louise said, "what's on the agenda today?"

"You're asking me?" Saito asked, more curious than anything. "Aren't you usually the one who decides what we do?"

"Yes, and look where that's gotten us lately," Louise pointed out. Saito sighed, mentally kicking himself. Of course Louise would still be hung up about that, but he knew that, given enough time, she'd get over it. He decided to acquiesce to her request, and Saito nodded while pulling out his Pokédex.

"Well, we have some options," Saito started, thumbing the map of Cyllage. It had automatically updated to show him what was still open and what wasn't, and he filtered out what they couldn't do in their week off. "There's cave diving, rock climbing, cycling courses. Ooh, there's a Mantine Surfing hut further down the beach."

"Mantine surfing?" Louise asked, not familiar with the term.

"It's a sport from Alola," Saito explained. "People get on Mantines and surf waves on them. I've never done it, but it looks like a lot of fun."

"Hmm, possibly," Louise hummed. Admittedly, that did sound interesting, and they did have a week to basically do whatever they wanted before Grant was ready.

"But," Saito continued, "I think we're better off trying some of the rock climbing Cyllage has. They have some of the best courses in the region, and if what I've read is accurate, it'll be good practice."

"How so?"

"Apparently, Grant's pre-battle challenge has trainers navigate a tough rock-climbing course with only the help between a trainer and their Pokémon. Since neither of us has gone rock climbing before, we could use some practice."

Louise thought it over, then frowned and nodded. Saito was right, she had never rock-climbed before. Founder, she'd had climbed anything since she was a kid and she climbed the small trees around her family's estate. Up until she got stuck one day and her father had to get her down. She never climbed anything after that, but now it looked like she'd have to. Nervousness caused her body to shake slightly, but she forced herself to stop. Now wasn't the time to let childish fears overwhelm her.

"That sounds perfect," Louise declared with a resolute nod. "When do they open?"

"Around noon. That give us," Saito paused and glanced towards the digital clock in their room, "about four hours. Enough time to get some breakfast and train a bit."

Louise nodded, then stood up and grabbed Brennaraki's Pokéball. She returned her starter soon after, then brushed herself off as Saito joined her.

"Hey, you guys getting food?" Derflinger asked, floating up from his chair towards them. "Mind if I come?"

"Sure, why not," Saito immediately answered, causing the Honedge to happily nod.

"Great! Mind getting me some coffee while we're down there?"

"Why? You can't drink it?" Louise asked, raising her eyebrow as they opened the door and locked it behind them after stepping out into the hallway.

"I like the smell, and it makes me feel included," Derflinger answered cheekily. Saito couldn't help but snort and shake his head, while Louise merely sighed and rolled her eyes.

* * *

After eating a hearty breakfast, Louise and Saito made their way towards the base of the mountains just outside Cyllage City. There was a dense forest that marked the boundary between the city limits and the natural world, which provided ample opportunity for the two trainers to get some much-needed training in. They had at least a week before Grant would accept their challenge, and they intended to make the most of it.

"Ronin, slice that boulder apart with Razor Shell!" Saito ordered. Ronin, standing before a large rock twice the size of his body, whipped out his scalchop and swung its edge diagonally across the rock's surface. When he calmly placed his shell back onto his belly, at first the rock did nothing. Saito was beginning to wonder whether or not his Pokémon did anything before the top section of the rock began to slide off the bottom. A loud grinding noise filled his ears only to be silenced by a dull thud as the rock fell onto the dirt floor of the forest. Ronin admired his work for a moment, then turned around and respectfully bowed towards his trainer.

"Good job, Ronin," Saito said, nodding towards his starter with a small smile on his face. He then turned towards his other Pokémon to check their progress. From what he could see, the system that they'd devised was working as intended. It was a multi-layered process, one that he felt could improve all of his Pokémon's skills at roughly the same rate. It started with Tanuki, who was throwing Aura-infused punches into the mountainside. This created a lot of debris which Saito was able to bribe Maindo with a rare, out of season berry Aile had helped pick out (mostly for herself) into compressing them into roughly shaped but ultimately stable boulders. It was more akin to rough sandstone than the smooth rocks on the mountain, but it was good enough for their purposes. Occasionally, the Ralts would throw a small pebble towards Saito's head, but the boy had gotten pretty good at dodging as of late, so he didn't let it mess with him all that much. Meanwhile, with the finished boulders, Shogun would bite away at any rough edges, slowly carving the rock into a manageable target that either Ronin or Tengu would break apart with their moves.

"Alright, guys. Keep doing what you're doing. In about ten minutes, we're going to rotate," Saito called out. With the exception of Maindo, who merely rolled his eyes and looked away in annoyance, the Pokémon nodded enthusiastically.

On the other side of the impromptu training grounds, Louise was having her Pokémon undergo a slightly different sort of training. Unlike Saito and his team, Louise was at a marked disadvantage against Grant. None of her Pokémon were super-effective against Rock-types. In fact, Rock-types were super-effective against two of _her_ Pokémon. The exact opposite situation that she had when he fought Viola for the Bug Badge. This time, however, Louise wasn't going to let herself become overconfident in her abilities. She couldn't afford to do so.

That still left the issue of Louise's team being weak against Grant's. However, Louise did know one thing: without the benefit of Rock Polish, Louise's Pokémon were both faster and more agile than Grant's. If Louise wanted to win the Cliff Badge, a direct, frontal assault would only result in her defeat. Hit and run tactics was the name of the game. Although her honor and pride screamed at her to ignore such tactics, she pushed it aside and kept focused on the task at hand.

"Everyone, keep it up!" Louise shouted from atop her perch, a flat rock partially embedded into the ground. Next to her, Esprit was hurling small and large rocks towards her Pokémon. While it might not seem like much at first glance, the throws were perfect for Esprit to practice deflecting rocks away from herself, which Louise helped by occasionally throwing a rock towards her Pokémon. Aile was bobbing and weaving between the trees and the rocks, twisting and twirling to avoid any damage like a graceful ballerina. Brennaraki, meanwhile, stayed on the ground, running as fast as her little legs could carry her to dodge Esprit's attacks. One rock strayed too close to her head, which unfortunately hit and knocked her to her side. The shiny Fennekin grumbled as she rose to her feet, but soon began running again.

' _Good job, Brennaraki,_ ' Louise thought, happy that her starter was continuing to show her indominable spirit. Her attention then turned towards Auspice, who was quickly proving herself to be perhaps the most capable fighter Louise had. Rather than just dodge the rocks, Auspice was taking it a step further. The Absol was jumping _off_ the rocks themselves to avoid any damage. If any got too close, a quick slice of her head razor was enough to shatter it into small, harmless pieces. A smile began to blossom across Louise's face as she watched her Pokémon continue to train, and deep down she knew that, when this week was over, they'd be ready.

* * *

Louise and Saito only stopped their training well after the sun reached its zenith. Now that it was in the afternoon, they felt it was appropriate to shift focus and move on to the next stage of their training, one that they were both excited for and nervous about at the same time. After all, they were quite literally going to climb a mountain, something that neither of them had done before.

"Alright, come right this way, please," the guide led them towards the beginner's course. He was a young, stocky man carrying a large backpack containing various mountaineering supplies such as ropes, shovels, and pickaxes. It must have weighed a considerable amount, yet he had an energetic smile on his face that both Saito and Louise couldn't help but return.

"So, I've never been rock-climbing before…" Louise began.

"Truly? Well, I'm happy the two of you decided to join us. I'm always excited to see newcomers try it out!" the mountaineer said, beaming as they continued hiking the trail.

"Is it safe?"

"Of course! We've specifically designed our courses with newcomers in mind. You'll be perfectly safe."

"Alright…" Louise didn't sound entirely sure. Neither did Saito, for that matter, but the guide's attitude helped to reassure them. He already knew why they were here. Grant's challenge was a frequent cause of visits, apparently, which was all the proof they needed to confirm that Saito's information was accurate. At the same time, he couldn't just let the two trainers start climbing a mountain all on their own, especially since it was their first time. That was something both trainers anticipated, so neither of them complained when the guide began teaching them directly for the next two hours. He ran through everything a climber would need to know. How to attach themselves to the preexisting ropes, place new ropes onto hooks, and most importantly, how to grab hold of small nooks and crannies to hoist themselves up the mountain. By the end of their lessons, Louise's and Saito's bodies ached, but the two proved to be fast learners. They were climbing the practice courses easily and without putting themselves into unnecessary danger, and so the guide led them to the actual course further up the mountain. Like the training course, the Level One course was built into a preexisting cliff with holds carved into the rock. Ropes were attached to metal beams at the top and bottom of the cliff, and both Saito and Louise looked up at the course with nervous conviction. They swallowed, then looked at the guide and nodded.

"We're ready," they said at the same time. Their guide nodded back, then they stepped up to the rock face where their guide assisted them in attaching their ropes to the already in place hooks and climbing struts. Motioning towards the handholds dotting the wall, he explained that the course they had signed up for had six levels of difficulty, scaling up with each raised wall. Once they were secure, he bid them farewell, then walked back to the main building to assist any other would-be climbers. Now alone, the two trainers released their Pokémon as they craned their necks upward. The rock wall was fairly short, only twenty feet at the most, and the handholds were quite discernable and looked easy to hold onto.

"Okay then, time to climb this wall," Louise declared, taking a deep breath before grabbing hold of an outstretched rock above her head. She grabbed another rock, and after taking another breath, she began to hoist herself upward.

"Uggh," she groaned, feeling her muscles strain and shake. Keeping her eyes focused on what was above her, Louise continued to climb, although her progress was slow. After what felt like ages, Louise stopped and held her body close to the wall, breathing harshly.

"How…how far up am I…?" Louise asked. Saito hummed, a blank expression on his face as he mentally measured how high up she was.

"You've gone five feet," he revealed.

"Wha—AAGH!" Louise shrieked as she briefly lost her grip. She fell back, but before it could hit the grassy ground, a gentle pull caught her and gently lowered her to the ground. Louise looked to the side where she saw Esprit giving her a soft smile and wave, and Louise looked back before nodding.

"Right, right…" She sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head. Standing up, she eyed the rocky cliff once more, trying to discern the best path. She then remembered what Saito had told her previously and turned to face him as he was studying the wall as well.

"You said that Grant's challenge has us rock-climb _with_ our Pokémon, correct?" Louise asked, and Saito nodded.

"Yeah, at least that's what people online said," he admitted. "Gonna be honest, don't know how I'm going to pull that off just yet."

"Right…" Louise murmured, then looked up at the small cliff. She pursed her lips, deep in thought, then felt an idea pop into her head. She looked towards her Pokémon, who were waiting expectantly for orders as she motioned for them to join her.

"Okay, I have an idea," Louise declared, causing her Pokémon to snap to attention. "Aile, I want you to fly up and find a path for me. Auspice, go ahead of me and use your horn to make the holds bigger. Brennaraki, stay on my shoulder. Esprit, keep me steady with your psychic powers. Alright?"

All of her Pokémon barked approvingly, and so Saito watched as the trainer and her Pokémon walked up to the rock face once again. As instructed, Aile flew up, pecking at the best places to climb. Auspice was right behind her, bounding effortlessly from rock to rock while swiping her horn at the same time, thus causing the holds to become slightly larger. Esprit was still on the ground and watches as Louise once again began to climb, now with Brennaraki safely secure on her shoulder. Together, they began to climb slowly and methodically, Louise feeing Esprit's gentle, psychic grip on her body.

Saito watched without saying a word, nodding approvingly as Louise began making considerable progress. It was still slow, but at least she was making headway. Besides, there was no rush. They had all day, and only planned on climbing up the first three levels before heading back. Anything more than that was far beyond the scope of their abilities.

At the same time, Saito was busy planning his own route and strategy. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself about how the situation between himself and Louise appeared to be reversed. Whereas Saito's team was more apt to fight Grant, the rock climb naturally lent itself to Louise. It didn't hurt that she had a Psychic-type that was more than willing to stop her from falling. He couldn't say the same about his own. Regardless, if he wanted to get that badge, he had to think smart and plan accordingly.

"Tanuki, can you find us a route?" he asked. Tanuki nodded, then disappeared in a blue blur as he sped towards and up the wall, finding the most appropriate route for them to take that didn't intervene with Louise's. Which proved harder than anticipated, judging by how careful Tanuki was being in finding a route. Eventually, though, he was able to find a satisfactory path, which of course left Saito with another conundrum. How was he going to take his Pokémon with him? Maindo wasn't going to be an issue, especially given how the Ralts had already teleported up to the top of the rock wall and was giving them a mocking stare. Saito ignored it, secretly happy that the Ralts was out of the way if only for a few minutes. It gave him time to think and strategizes.

"Okay, Tengu? Get up on my back, alright?" he ordered. Tengu bobbed her head slightly then waddled over to him, allowing Saito to pick her up and place her in his backpack where the egg normally sat. It was safely back at the hotel being watched over with Derflinger, so he had enough room to hold her. He then turned to Ronin, who was expectantly looking up at him with his beady black eyes.

"Ronin, think you can climb up with your scalchop?" Saito asked. Ronin nodded, bringing his paw up to his forehead in a brisk salute before running up to the wall and shooting himself up with a short Aqua Jet. At the top of his steam, he sank the edge of his shell into the rock, holding him up and allowing the Oshawatt to collect his bearings. Saito watched as his Pokémon continued their climb, following the path that Tanuki had mapped out for them, and Saito turned his attention towards Shogun. Despite himself, Saito couldn't help but frown as he wondered just how he has going to get the Tyrunt up. He weighed over fifty pounds and trying to climb like that wouldn't be easy.

Soon, however, and idea took shape in Saito's mind, and he looked at the rope fastened to the top of the cliff wall.

"Okay, I know what we're going to do, Shogun," he said, turning towards his Pokémon and kneeling. "You're going to have to stay here for a bit, you're too heavy and the rocks aren't big enough to hold you."

Shogun visibly deflated at that, but Saito's warm smile gave the Tyrunt pause.

"See this rope?" Saito asked, holding up the object in question. Shogun studied it for a moment, then nodded while his eyes showed he was still confused. Saito then began to tie the rope around his Pokémon, speaking all the while.

"Once I get to the top, the others and I will pull you up," Saito explained, tightening the rope as much as he could around Shogun's body. Once he was satisfied, Saito stood up and nodded towards Shogun, who nodded back to express his complete trust in his trainer. Saito then turned towards the rock wall, and after placing his hands on the correct handholds, he began to hoist himself upwards.

Almost immediately, he began to understand why Louise was having so much trouble earlier. He was only going up a few feet, but already it was proving to be a challenge. But he forced himself to keep going, refusing to look down and instead keeping his face skyward. Several minutes passed when he saw Louise pull herself over the ledge, her feet disappearing. He nodded to himself but didn't dare say anything. The last thing he wanted was to lose focus and fall.

Eventually, Saito found himself at the top of the ledge, where Louise and his Pokémon were waiting for him. Taking hold of the ledge, Saito pulled himself over and off the cliff face. He took a few moments to catch his breath, then motioned for his Pokémon to join him at the rope that Shogun was still tied to. All except for Maindo took hold and began to pull, their faces turning red with exertion.

Below, Shogun felt the pull of the rope against his midsection. Knowing what they were trying to do, he walked towards the rock wall and placed the flat of his foot against the surface. He followed with the other as the rope began to pull him upwards, and Shogun rope walked to the top of the rock wall to join his team. His pack, as he liked to think of it. From halfway up he could hear their grunts and strains, and again he felt slightly self-conscious about the entire thing. Not that he could help it, his species were naturally heavy, but the last thing he wanted to feel was that he was a burden on everyone.

After what felt like hours, but was at most just a few minutes, the top of Shogun's head finally breached the ledge, allowing him to grab hold with his jaws and pull himself the rest of the way. Now that everyone was on top, the two teams took a moment to collect their breath. Sweat trickled down their bodies, and only the sound of heavy breathing could be heard alongside the gentle breeze.

"Saito?" Louise quietly asked as she stood above Saito's prone body.

"Ye…yeah?" he replied.

"Why did you haul Shogun up the mountain?"

"I had…to get him up."

"Why not keep him in his Pokéball?"

"…Because I'm stupid," Saito groaned, gently slapping his forehead in exasperation. The rest of his Pokémon gave him a stink eye while Shogun just looked happy that he was included.

Finally, after a few more minutes of rest the two teams stood up, their bodies sore from the strenuous activity as they looked towards the second level they intended to complete. This cliff was about ten feet higher, the handholds smaller and more spacious. The ledge at a slight angle from where they started, which they knew from their lessons would make the climb slightly easier. Were it not for the added height, this probably would have been the Level One course. Still, they were undaunted, and both placed their hands on their hips as they studied the course intensely.

"Ready for round two?" Louise asked, not letting the challenge get to her. Saito nodded, then ordered their Pokémon to scout the right route for them and began to climb.

* * *

From inside Saito's backpack, Tengu watched as they climbed higher and higher up the mountainside. Secured with ropes and psychic holds, she felt perfectly safe despite their rather precarious position. The Seedot wasn't much help in this situation, unfortunately, being without arms and all. But she could, at the very least, enjoy the view. And what a view it was! Her vantage point afforded Tengu a great, wide view of Cyllage City and the mountain range it was nestled in. In the distance, soft waves crested against the warm sand, and above were flocks of Wingulls, Pelippers and other Flying-type Pokémon moving gently through the clouds. It was a peaceful scene, one that Tengu was happy to enjoy while she could.

"We're almost at the top," Louise called out as she gripped another handhold and hoisted herself up the mountain. Tengu watched as sweat trickled down Louise's body, and her arms were quivering with each movement as she panted for breath. But Louise pressed forward, refusing to back down from the challenge after getting this far.

"Good," Saito said, panting as he climbed just ahead of Louise. "Can't wait…to get back down…"

"Same."

The two continued to climb, and Tengu remained silent as she scanned her surroundings for more interesting sights. To her right, far above the line where the trees no longer grew, she saw a white blanket of snow covering the peaks. This was somewhat surprising to her, given how it was summer and all, but fascinating, nonetheless. She normally only saw snow during the harsh winter months, and even then she slept through most of it hanging from a tree branch. She hoped she'd have a chance to see it more closely in the future.

Finally, after several more minutes of hauling their bodies up the rocks, Saito and Louise reached the top of the mountain. Saito hauled himself up first, then turned around while panting to offer his sweaty hand to Louise. She gratefully clasped it with her own, and together pulled her off the cliff and onto the wide ledge they were now resting on. With the rosette safely on her feet, the two trainers unclipped their climbing gear, removed their backpacks, and collapsed onto the ground. Both panted heavily, closing their eyes as they let the cool mountain breeze wash over their bodies.

"Saito…" Louise started through her heavy breathing.

"Yeah?" Saito replied, breathing just as heavily.

"I think I'm done," Louise stated, and Saito painfully nodded.

"Yeah…me, too." From the ground, Saito tilted his head towards a small dirt trail heading down the mountain. "We'll take that back down."

Slowly, Louise turned her gaze towards what Saito was looking at, and nodded in approval. Then both plopped their heads back onto the ground and rested. After nearly ten minutes of doing absolutely nothing, Saito and Louise finally rose to their feet and recollected their belongings. They also recalled most of their Pokémon, seeing no reason to have their companions walk down the mountain with them. Only Auspice, Brennaraki, Aile, Tanuki and Tengu remained outside with their trainers, keeping watchful eyes on their surroundings at all times while at the same time enjoying themselves.

"Have you ever been hiking, Louise?" Saito asked, finding the downward walk much easier on his body than the climb.

"No, actually," Louise admitted. "Tristain doesn't have any mountains, and any travel I did was through carriage or airship."

"Right." Saito nodded, adjusting his backpack where Tengu sat. "I've hiked a few times before. Not much, but enough to get a feel. My favorite part was always the walk down."

Louise softly smiled and nodded. "I think I can see why."

They continued their walk silently, taking in the forested mountain terrain. Birds and insects sounded off around them alongside Pokémon. Occasionally, they would see a Pokémon scurry along the mountain trail. Mienfoos were practicing katas against boulders, breaking them apart with their burgeoning martial arts skills. Inkays and Drifloons floated past the treetops, although a few of the Balloon Pokémon got too close to Louise for her comfort. Saito smartly chose not to tell her that the likely reason was that they thought she was a child. Drifloon was known to make off with them in an attempt to play, and something told him that she would not take too kindly to that information. A couple of times, they spotted a Spoink bouncing along its merry way, either across rocks or even across the trail to get to the other side. Neither trainer moved against the Pokémon they came across, having felt no desire other than getting back to their hotel to sleep the rest of the day away. Not that it stopped them from watching the wild creatures with glee. The wild Pokémon didn't, either. The most attention they received were a few curious glances, but otherwise none got close.

"Hey, what's that?" Louise suddenly called out, breaking the silence. Saito turned his head to look at a small outcropping of rocks above them, where he saw a waist-high, white furred creature with a red jagged stripe slanting up its belly. The Pokémon was bipedal, with long arms that ended with red fur and three razor sharp claws. Its left ear was red, the fur crossing his eye in such a way that it looked like a scar, which brought attention to its intense red eyes that seemed to bore into their souls. The hairs on the back of Saito's neck began to rise, but he ignored the feeling and instead calmly pulled out his travel guide. He flipped through the pages, glancing at the images until he finally got a match.

"The guide says it's a Zangoose, the Cat Ferret Pokémon. It's a Normal-type that mostly lives in savannahs and grasslands. Wonder why this one is on a mountain?"

"Anything else?" Louise asked, her eyes never leaving the creature, and Saito nodded.

"Says that they're highly aggressive Pokémon, especially towards Sevipers."

"That's promising," Louise noted. She stared at the Zangoose one last time, then released a breath she didn't know she was holding as it turned and went out of sight. Saito sighed in relief, too, and pulled his backpack around to his front.

"Whew, what a relief," Saito said as he unzipped its pocket to place the guide back in. "For a second there, I was worried it was—"

Saito never had a chance to finish his sentence as a white blur suddenly shot out from a nearby bush. He yelped in surprise, his grip loosening just enough for the backpack, still containing a now startled Tengu, to be ripped from his hands by the creature. Just as Saito fell to the ground on his rear, the blur raced off into the forest, leaving the stunned trainers and Pokémon behind.

"What the hell?!" Saito yelled as he shot to his feet, trying to find where the blur had gone.

"I think that was the Zangoose!" Louise shouted, checking her friend for any injuries but finding none.

"Why'd it attack us?!"

Louise thought for a moment, then came to an answer as she realized what, exactly, the creature had made off with.

"Your backpack," Louise answered. "It had our snacks in it. The Zangoose must've wanted the food."

"Great, just perfect!" Saito sighed, rubbing the rim of his brow before going cold. With wide eyes, he shot his head up, and it was at that moment that Louise realized the same thing that her friend did.

"Tengu…" she gasped. A brief, heavy silence filled the air, then everyone sprang into action without even needing to be ordered. Aile, Auspice, and Tanuki sped through the forest, the former flying above the treetops while the latter two sprang nimbly from tree to tree to avoid the rocky terrain. The others weren't so lucky, carefully traversing it as fast as they could without risking injury to themselves.

* * *

Tengu stayed as quiet as she could as the Zangoose carried the backpack, and her along with it, higher up the mountain. Everything had happened so fast that she didn't even have time to react, and now she had no idea where she was. The Seedot didn't dare make a noise lest she be discovered, and instead plotted ways on how to get out of this mess. This was proving to be rather difficult, as Tengu had never faced a Zangoose before. From what she could see, it was fast, and likely built for close, physical combat, but that didn't give her much to work with. At the very least, it hadn't seen her, and in the time since she'd been taken, Tengu had managed to maneuver herself underneath some sweaty towels Saito had stored within his backpack. It was revolting, but she'd put up with it for now.

Eventually, the Zangoose began to slow to a stop, and Tengu felt her body rise as the Zangoose stood back up on two legs and hold its ill-gotten gains in its claws. It turned the backpack upside down and began to shake it violently, causing its contents to fall onto the rocky floor. Food, water bottles, towels, and Tengu herself fell out with a clump. Hidden under a pile a pile of towels, she began rolling away, hoping that the Zangoose wouldn't notice. At first, it didn't. Instead, the Zangoose began picking apart packages of trail mix and granola bars apart, chowing down greedily with a wide smile on its face. Tengu continued her roll, pausing every rotation to check on the Zangoose. Only when it wasn't looking her way did she roll back, and she was almost at the edge of the rocky clearing she found herself in when the Zangoose finally noticed her presence.

" _What the-?!_ " the Zangoose yelled as it dropped a half-eaten granola bar. As though a switch were flipped, the hairs on Zangoose's body bristled and rose up, making its furry body appear larger than it was previously.

" _Where'd you come from?! Never mind, get out of here! This is mine!_ " It snarled at Tengu, hissing and spitting as she looked it in the eye and began standing up. The Zangoose moved protectively in front of its food source, its red eyes boring into Tengu's beady black. Both sized up the other, silently daring their opponent to make the first move. At the same time, Tengu sized up her situation. She was alone with a dangerous, wild Pokémon. Her trainer and team, she had to assume, were on their way to get to her, but she had no idea how long that would take. She could try simply turning around and leaving. It was possible that the Zangoose really did only want the food in Saito's bag. But her experience in the wild screamed at her not to trust the predator. She'd seen Pokémon make that mistake and come to regret it. She refused to become a victim, and her eyes narrowed as she came to a decision.

So, when the Zangoose took a small, threatening step towards her, she lowered her cap towards it and unleashed a hail of Bullet Seeds into her opponent's face.

" _Gagh! You little-!_ " It staggered back, trying to shield itself with its forearms while Tengu continued her assault. She paused briefly to release a Sunny Day, both to serve as a signal flare to her teammates and to improve her own odds.

The brief pause in Tengu's assault was enough for Zangoose to regain its bearings and dash to the side, circling towards her flank with an enraged, bloodthirsty snarl. Its claws glowed bright white as it prepared a Crush Claw attack, and it was moving too fast for Tengu to rotate fast enough. The sharp claws scraped across her acorn-like body, sending her flying back and hitting the ground hard enough to bounce. She rolled across the ground for a few seconds, angling herself to that she landed on her feet. Her body still continued its momentum, however, forcing the Seedot to dig in her heels and brace herself as the Zangoose sped towards her once again. This time, however, Tengu was ready and quickly absorbed enough solar energy to form a Solar Beam. By the time the Zangoose realized what was about to happen, the concentrated beam struck its chest. With a pained yelp, it flew back into the mountain, a slight crack forming where its body hit the rock, and it fell to its knees and panted. Tengu, meanwhile, patched herself up with Synthesis, the Sunny Day boosting its effectiveness to the point where it wasn't as though she was injured at all.

Panting heavily, the Zangoose pushed itself up to its feet and glared at Tengu.

" _You know, I only wanted you to leave so I could eat in peace. Now, though? You're dead,"_ Zangoose declared. She stared impassively back towards it, her blank expression telling the Zangoose that she was getting bored. This enraged the wild Pokémon further, and with a shrill roar it charged towards her yet again. Tengu attempted to stall her opponent with Bullet Seed, but it was moving too fast from side to side for her to hit. Shifting tactics, Tengu stopped her Bullet Seed attack and instead shot out Swift. Glowing stars of energy homed in on Zangoose, curving through the air like a heat-seeking missile that impacted against its side. It grunted in pain, but continued forward to use a Slash attack against Tengu, sending her skidding back against the rocky ground. Tengu flinched in pain, which to her alarm was greater than what she had anticipated. Zangoose's Crush Claw attack, she realized, must battered her shell hard enough to weaken it, leaving her more vulnerable. She quickly used Harden to repair herself, launching another Sunny Day to replenish the first one.

Before she had time to refocus, Zangoose was on her again, slashing against her side and sending her flying into the mountain. The rock cracked and formed a small divot where she was embedded, and for a moment, the Zangoose allowed itself to laugh as it mockingly turned towards her. Tengu wiped the smirk off its face with a quick Solar Beam, forcing the Zangoose to duck as the neon-green beam tore through the forest, severing the tops of trees from its base. It roared again, and Zangoose prepared to rush towards Tengu to finish her off. At the same time, Tengu prepared to attack again, refusing to give up despite her immobile position, when a loud, angry hiss sounded from the forest.

" _Hey, assholes! Do you have any idea what you're-?!_ " a voice hissed from the forest, a voice that Zangoose appeared to recognize. With wide eyes, the Zangoose turned towards the source of the noise as a furious Seviper slithered in. Leaves and twigs were scattered around its black and purple-marked body, its red-edged tail twitching wildly as its coiled body moved from side to side. When Seviper and Zangoose locked eyes, their bodies stilled, and their eyes narrowed.

" _You…_ " they both murmured under their breath. Tengu quickly realized what must've happened. In the Seedot's attempt to defend herself, the Seviper must've been attracted by the commotion and came over to investigate. Then her missed Solar Beam caused debris to fall all over it, and now it was angry and out for blood.

For a moment, Tengu got worried that now she'd have to contend against both a wild Zangoose and wild Seviper both gunning to harm her. But, to her surprise, instead the Zangoose and Seviper focused their attention on each other. As though her presence was completely forgotten about, the two Pokémon charged towards each other and began to fight. Claw met fang and arm met tail as the two feuded Pokémon battled each other ferociously. As Tengu watched, she tried wiggling her way out of the hole she found herself in. Unfortunately, it was proving nearly impossible to do so, and with a silent groan she wished she could evolve and have arms like everyone else. Resigned to her predicament, Tengu watched as the two wild Pokémon continued their fight. Both were giving it their all, wanting to inflict as much damage to the other as possible. Zangoose was even fighting at a level beyond the effort it was giving towards Tengu.

Seeing the increased level of combat the Zangoose was now displaying, Tengu slowly began to realize that she might've jumped to the wrong conclusion. The Zangoose had told her to leave, which she took to be a lie and implicit threat. She was beginning to think that was the wrong assumption, that the Zangoose really did only want to eat its stolen food and not fight her. If that was truly the case, then she had needlessly escalated the situation into an actual fight. A fight that, had the Seviper not shown up, could've gotten her killed. It was a humbling and disturbing thought, but one that she forced herself to ruminate on.

As the wild Pokémon continued to fight, Tengu noticed a small orange flutter appear overhead. She focused on it, and to her relief saw that it was a familiar looking Fletchinder. She and Aile locked eyes with each other, and Aile nodded before turning around and flying off. Undoubtedly to get the others, Tengu figured. Knowing that it was going to be over soon, Tengu smugly watched as the wild Pokémon continued to beat each other silly. Their attentions were so focused on their opponent that they never realized others were racing towards them. Tengu did, however, and saw as a furious Auspice, carrying a mounted Tanuki and Brennaraki, jumped onto clearing and raced towards them. The Zangoose and Seviper only noticed at the last second, and they were too exhausted from their fight to do anything more than stare with wide eyes as four trained Pokémon attacked them from all sides. From above, Aile flapped her wings and created a Razor Wind that buffeted them. From behind, Tengu launched a Swift, the stars rocking their bodies like hail. From the front, Auspice's horn glowed dark purple as it used Night Slash, sending them skidding back and giving Tanuki the opening he needed to leap off of the Absol with his paws glowing white. At the same time, Brennaraki's eyes flashed purple as she prepared a Psybeam. He hit both the Zangoose and the Seviper with a Meteor Mash each at the same time as Brennaraki's Psychic-type attack, the ensuing force strong enough to create a small explosion. Both Pokémon flew out into the air with loud cries, flying so high that they seemed to disappear in a twinkle.

" _Huh, wasn't expecting that,_ " Tanuki noted, eyeing the twinkle curiously before turning around to face Tengu just as Louise and Saito entered the clearing.

"Tengu!" Saito shouted as he immediately raced towards his Pokémon. Despite not having a mouth, Tengu smiled as her trainer came over to her, immediately checking for any signs of damage. When he found nothing serious, he sighed in relief and began looking around for a hold.

"Here," Louise said, offering a small stick. Saito gladly took it, offering her thanks as he gently pried it between Tengu and the rock like a crowbar. With just a bit of leverage, he was able to pop her out like a bottle opener, allowing the Seedot to fall to the ground on her feet. She was none the worse for wear, and she slowly rotated her body to look up happily towards her trainer.

"Are you hurt, Tengu?" Saito asked. Tengu shook her body, and Saito smiled.

"Thank Arceus." Saito sighed, then kneeled to look her in the eye. "I'm sorry about that, girl. I should've paid more attention. It's my fault the Zangoose took you."

Tengu shook her head, silently insisting it wasn't her trainer's fault. If anything, she felt the experience was rather interesting. One that she would prefer never to happen again, but interesting, nonetheless. It was also a situation that was more her fault than anything. She had let her personal biases lead her down the wrong path, a path that could've ended in disaster. Tengu knew she couldn't make that mistake again. Next time might not end so well for her.

A few more seconds of prodding ensued, and soon everyone was combing over the debris, picking up everything they could. Luckily, the only items missing were a few items of food, and so once they were fully packed once again, Saito picked Tengu back up, placed her in his backpack, and together they walked back down the mountain.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here's the latest chapter of Outsiders! Special thanks to Darwin Candidate, Grendel4823, wildrook, and Yuri Vampire for all their help bringing this story to life. Also, in case I hadn't brought this up before, Darwin himself is the author of a very popular Pokemon story on Spacebattles called Boldores and Boomsticks. It's a crossover between RWBY and Pokemon, so if you like either of those franchises I encourage you to give it a shot.

Episode 12, as you can see, is shaping up to be a breather more lighthearted episode than what came before. Something that was needed, as many of you pointed out. Don't worry, this was always the plan. I do hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **Boshwa:** Glad to have you with us. Don't worry, you won't be seeing Team Flare again for quite some time. For the rest of the season, in fact. Outside of a Team Rocket-esque encounter we feel might spice things up a bit. Nothing major like what's happened so far, however. At least for a long while. Don't want to make things too serious, you know?

 **.549:** Yeah, that's pretty much it. Although Plot A is the primary focus, the rest are background. This story is Louise's and Saito's story, mostly Louise's. The rest help to add onto it.

 **DRMAK:** Sycamore will be all "now you know why I do it" and Louise will be ashamed of herself.

 **keybladelight:** Yep, some good old Louise scolding. Something that canon did quite a bit too much, but here it was fully justified. We will be showing Halkegenia eventually. But remember that time is being dilated between Earth and Louise's planet. At most, maybe a day or two has passed in Louise's home since her disappearance despite it being a few months for Louise. Not that she knows that, mind you.

 **DPSS:** Had to happen at some point.

 **SulliMike23:** Everyone is learning. It's a key part of Pokemon. Where do you think the "you'll teach me and I'll teach you" bit from the theme song comes from? I think that's why Pokemon stories are so popular, they're perfect vehicles for character growth while also providing a perfect avenue for action, adventure, drama and whatever else you might need to make a story work.

 **Celestia's Paladin:** Only when she feels the need to.

That's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoy and I'll see you next time! Also, you may have noticed that I've started up a new story, a RWBY/Halo crossover called Dust and Echoes. I encourage you guys to give it a shot, you might enjoy it.


	55. Season 1, Episode 12, Chapter 2

**Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)  
Season 1, Episode 12, Chapter 2**

[~][~]

It had been two days since Louise and Saito came down from the mountain. Their bodies ached from the stress of mountain climbing, so the day after they didn't do much other than lay on beds and watch TV. Not that they complained. It was a welcome change of pace from the high intensity activities they had been undergoing as of late. Only towards the end of the day did any real training be undertaken, and even then it was light.

Now, however, with their bodies fully rested and healed, it was time for both trainers to hit the ground running. Luckily, they already knew what they wanted to do today, which was why as soon as they were able they made their way towards Cyllage City's famous beaches. Derflinger, floating near the beach towels with the Pokémon Egg on the ground between Saito's and Louise's towels, silently watched as the two teams continued to train.

"Swim against the current, Ronin!" Saito called out, watching as his starter swam in the ocean. The Oshawatt was in his element, pushing himself through the waves gracefully. At least he was until Saito decided to incorporate Maindo into the training by allowing the Ralts to use his psychic powers to make the waters around Ronin much more turbulent than normal. It was a sound training strategy in Ronin's mind. Ronin got to improve his physical strength and endurance while Maindo got to improve his psychic control. Didn't mean Ronin had to like it, however, and it didn't help that Maindo was getting _way_ too into it.

' _Yes! Yes!_ ' Maindo mentally shouted as he threw the waves from side to side. ' _Toss and turn like the worthless insect you are!_ '

It said a lot that Ronin was only half-sure Maindo was joking.

Nearby, Tengu practiced her control by repeatedly tossing up Sunny Days and firing Solar Beams into the empty ocean beyond. Bright neon green beams of concentrated solar energy split apart the waves, tossing droplets of water high into the air and forming a faint rainbow in the ensuing mist. To the Seedot, it was a spectacular sight, but not one she could ruminate on for long before she had to do another. She had been doing it repeatedly for over an hour now, and her body was reeling from the stress of continuously blasting Solar Beams. Yet, she continued, pushing her endurance to its limits all with the knowledge that this would only help her.

On the back end of the beach, near an assortment of rocks, Shogun repeatedly slammed his thick tail into large boulders, breaking them into small chunks that Tanuki would then punch into fine powder. Saito was wanting him to learn the move Dragon Tail, figuring it would be a powerful addition to his move set. Tanuki, meanwhile, was focusing on learning Metal Claw. While Meteor Mash was certainly a powerful Steel-type move, he could only use it so much before it took a toll on his body. Metal Claw would make for a more usable alternative.

Nearby, with Louise watching over them while wearing her swimsuit, a sunhat, sunglasses, and sandals, Brennaraki blew fire into the rocks and sand. The heat was intense enough to melt some of it into brittle glass, which Esprit then finely combed out with her psychic powers. While Maindo focused on pure, raw strength, Esprit was more focused on precision, an approach that suited the Kirlia just fine. Brennaraki, meanwhile, focused on intensifying the heat of her flames, attempting to leave scorch marks that could later be translated into possible burns on a Rock-type Pokémon.

Above, Aile flew high into the air before dropping down head-first. She sped as fast as she could towards the sand, banking upward at the last second and rising back up, only to repeat the process at a faster pace. The training was risky, Louise had to admit, but it was proving to be an excellent way to improve Aile's agility and ability to move out the way extremely fast. Besides, as the few wipeouts that had occurred thus far shown, the soft sand made for a nice landing pad.

To top off the training, Auspice ran as fast as she could through the maze of rocks lining the beach, slashing her horn into them as she passed and cutting them apart piece by piece. The Absol was focusing on hit-and-run tactics, something that both she and Louise knew was their best chance at victory. Thus far, it was going well. Auspice hadn't even broken a sweat, and felt like she could do this for hours.

"You guys keep doing what you're doing," Louise said as she went over to her strewn-out beach towel and laid down. Her Pokémon barked and squawked in reply, allowing Louise to sigh contently as she felt the sun's rays bathe her. As she basked in the sun, Louise looked up at the grey and white sky, causing a small frown to cross her face. She couldn't wait until that grey turned back into blue, but she shook those negative thoughts out of her head before they could fester. Instead, she allowed herself to close her eyes and breathe out contently, feeling the warmth fill her body.

"Hey," she heard Saito say as he laid down next to her on his own beach towel. Louise, with her eyes still closed, nodded in response, and she heard the ruffling of cloth over the sand as Saito adjusted himself.

"What 'cha doing?" he asked.

"Working on my tan," Louise responded, causing Saito softly chuckle.

"Really? I thought nobles didn't like that sort of thing?"

"They don't know what they're missing. Besides, it's going to happen anyway, what with all the hiking I've been doing lately. Might as well be on my terms."

Saito burst out laughing at that. A moment later, Louise joined him, and the air was filled with a lighthearted cacophony that lifted their spirits. A few moments later, the two fell silent as they laid back in silent contentment. The sound of Wingulls crying out and the waves crashing into the beach filled the air. The smell of salt wafted towards them with the cool ocean breeze, and small clouds cast shadows along the beach as they floated past. Behind them, their Pokémon continued their training.

The two trainers remained in this state for quite some time, until the sound of approaching footsteps caught their attention. Both Louise and Saito turned their heads to look as a pair of tanned, shirtless men wearing Alolan-patterned swim trunks and sun-bleached dreadlocks walked towards them. They were carrying large poles, flags, and banners in their arms. A few other individuals coming from behind them were carrying speakers and what looked to be the beginnings of a sound stage, causing the two trainers to perk up their eyes in interest.

"Hey, guys?" one of them called out. "You mind clearing out? We need this beach."

"Hmm?" Louise hummed in reply, lowering her sunglasses slightly to get a better look. Saito leaned up on his elbow while their Pokémon stopped what they were doing to pay attention.

"Why?" Saito asked, slightly irritated.

"Like, the competition man. Haven't ya heard?" the other surfer dude, from what Saito could tell, replied with a dramatic wave of his hand. Louise, starring at both, slowly shook her head.

"I'm afraid we're unfamiliar," she said as diplomatically as possible. "What competition?"

"The greatest one there is!" the first enthusiastically replied. "Mantine Surfing!"

Louise thought for a moment, then her eyes widened as she remembered.

"Oh, Mantine Surfing. I think I read about that. It's where you ride Mantines on the ocean, right?"

Rather than respond, both surfer dudes looked at the young noblewomen and rolled their eyes.

"No, you don't just 'ride' a Mantine," the second insisted in a haughty tone, catching Louise slightly off guard.

"Yeah, it's more than that. It's a bond between man, Pokémon, and the waves." He scoffed. "I wouldn't expect normies like you two to understand."

"Excuse me?" Louise shot back, offended as she and Saito stood up.

"You heard me," the surfer dude responded without a hint of regret while also pulling out a slip of paper. A permit, by the look of it. "Now, since you and your boyfriend are up, pack up your stuff and leave so that the rest of us can get ready."

Saito and Louise looked at each other for a moment, then a crimson blush enveloped both of their faces as they quickly turned their heads away to glare at the unrepentant surfer dudes.

"We're not-!" both said at the same time before closing their eyes and breathing in sharply. Then, with hard expressions plastered onto their faces, Saito and Louise glared at the two men who looked at them with expectant gazes.

"Look," Louise grunted, "we can leave so your Mantine Riding competition can get underway."

"It's Mantine Surfing."

"Whatever!" Louise shouted back, pointing her finger at them. "Either way, I do not appreciate being talked down to by a bunch of ruffians, so I demand an apology before I do anything."

With that, Saito and Louise crossed their arms and glared at the two surfer dudes. They looked at each other for a moment, then haughtily grinned and turned their attentions back towards the two trainers.

"We're sorry," they both said at the same in such a way that told Louise and Saito that they didn't mean a word of it. "Sorry you're a bunch of chumps who don't know any better. Now, get on outta here before we get someone else to make you."

"Why you little-!" Louise shouted indignantly, only for the two surfer dudes to turned around and walk away. Saito and Louise glared at their backs as they walked down the beach, their Pokémon joining in the angered glaring.

"I'm going to kick their asses," Saito announced, curling his hand into a tight fist. He moved forwards to challenge them to a battle, but Louise held out her arm and stopped no.

"No, no," she said softly while shaking her head, her attention never leaving from the two surfer dudes. "I know these types of people. Arrogant, haughty. Beating them up won't work. No, we need to do something else entirely."

"What do you have in mind?" Saito asked, still glaring at the dudes.

"Beat them at their own game, of course," Louise announced, smilingly wickedly. Saito thought it over, then looked at her.

"You're saying we join the Mantine Surfing Competition?" he asked, and Louise nodded.

"Yes, exactly." Seeing the doubtful look on Saito's face, Louise chuckled and shook her head while waving her hand. "Come on, don't give me that look. Sure, I've never done it before, but I've done tons of horseback riding back home. You know how much endurance that takes?"

"The answer's a lot," Derflinger cut in.

"Exactly," Louise continued. "If I can do that, then Mantine Surfing's going to be a breeze. How hard can it be?"

* * *

"Aagh!" Louise shrieked as she fell into the water from atop her rented Mantine. She floundered helplessly for a bit, then the Pokémon scooped her up from below and brought her back to the surface. She gasped for breath, laying on top of the Mantine's large back, all the while lightly glaring at Saito who was wobblily surfing his way towards her while standing on his Mantine.

"You did better that time!" Saito called out. "That was three minu-AAGH!"

Suddenly, a small bump from a wave threw Saito off-balance, and he fell into the water with a large splash. His Mantine dived to retrieve him, giving Louise the opportunity to close her eyes, sigh, and rest her head on the Mantine's smooth body.

When Louise had decided showing up the two jerks from earlier at their own game, she had honestly thought that it would prove easy. How different could riding a Mantine be from riding a horse? She'd ridden horses back home in Tristian for years, and Louise had assumed those skills would easily translate into riding anything else, even an aquatic Pokémon like Mantine. Unfortunately, that notion was quickly dashed when she learned what 'surfing' actually meant. She had foolishly believed that surfing was just another word for riding, but it turned out that instead of sitting on the Mantine, she had to _stand_ on it. Stand on the back of a remarkably smooth creature on the surface of the water as it bobbed up and down with the waves. She had "wiped out" nearly twenty times before she finally managed to simply keep her balance while not moving. It was a good thing the ray-like Pokémon was so patient…

Saito had, of course, known what Mantine Surfing truly was, but he didn't tell Louise that. No, he had felt seeing Louise wipe out after realizing her mistake would've been hilarious. His laughter after the first few times told her he did, indeed, find it hilarious. Then he started to wipe out, too, so Louise returned the laughter back spitefully. He more than deserved that.

When Saito's head finally broke above the water, the two trainers locked eyes one he wiped the water from his face. Louise waited for Saito to catch his breath, then she began to speak.

"Doesn't feel so good, does it?" she asked.

"How many times do I have to say, 'I'm sorry?'" Saito exasperatingly asked.

"I couple more times should do," Louise answered, then pushed herself onto her Mantine's back and sat down. In order to help her, the Mantine lightly dipped itself below the water, making it remarkably easy to get aboard. Saito did the same, and they stared at each other as the water gently bobbed them up and down.

"Anyway," Saito began, "you sure you still want to do this?"

"Yes," Louise insisted. Saito, however, raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Louise, we've been at this for two hours. If we join that competition this afternoon, we're only going to get humiliated."

"Then I get humiliated. It wouldn't be the first time."

Saito was stunned into silence at Louise's proclamation, even as she shakily stood back up and urged the Mantine to move along. The Kite Pokémon cooed gently as it saw off, trying its best to keep Louise upright by counteracting against the waves. As she slowly surfed along the water's surface, keeping herself low in an effort to stay afloat, Saito shook his head and stood up once again. Louise was right, he figured. Besides, this was such a low-states situation that he was perfectly fine letting their emotions drive them forward.

* * *

After a few hours of practice, and just as the competition finally finished setting up, Louise and Saito finally managed to get the basics of Mantine Surfing down. They weren't pros, but they weren't expecting to be. Now the two of them could confidently surf across the waves without fear of immediately falling over, which is all they could ask for.

"Good job, girl," Louise said as she rubbed her hired Mantine's head. The Pokémon cooed and leaned into her hand, and a smile graced Louise's lips as she surfed back to the shore. Saito was already there, returning his Mantine to its Pokéball. Like the Mantine she was using, his was hired from a stand further down the beach, and once they were done with the surfing competition, they were going to give them back. Once Louise reached the shore, she gently stepped off and returned the Mantine to its Pokéball, then joined Saito next to stuff.

"You ready?" he asked, and Louise nodded.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she replied, then smiled. "Let's go have some fun."

Saito nodded in full agreement, then the two walked over to the ever-growing crowd of surfers and spectators waiting to participate in the competition. Music was blasting over loudspeakers and tiki torches lined the area, creating a true Alolan atmosphere that was impossible to miss. The two trainers asked where they could sign up, and they were directed to a stand next to the stage. A long line was already waiting, and at the front were the two surfers who had so rudely treated them before. Louise and Saito frowned in their general direction, then moved themselves to the back of the line where they waited their turn.

Luckily for them, the line moved rather quickly. The organizers were proving themselves to be highly efficient, placing the contestants in various groups. Before long, Saito and Louise found themselves at the front, where Saito was placed into group C while Louise went into group B. Both were slightly disappointed they weren't in the same group, but they moved past it and separated. A sea of men and women separated the two trainers and they could no longer see each other, and Louise straightened herself as she focused her attention to the beach at the front of the group. There she saw a man wearing an Alolan shirt, swim trunks, and sunglasses fiddling with a megaphone, and he appeared to be waiting for more to arrive. When the groups further swelled, he nodded to himself, then began to speak into the megaphone.

"Alola, everyone, and welcome to the fifth annual Cyllage Mantine Surfing Tourney!" he spoke into the megaphone, the device amplifying his voice to where it carried over the crowed. Once again, Louise was silently awed at the technological capabilities Earth possessed. True, magic could do the same thing, but using a megaphone looked much simpler and was able to be used by anyone. Still, Louise refocused as the crowd's noise died down, and the speaker continued.

"Now, let's not waste anytime time. We all know why you're here. Who ready for some Mantine Surfing?!" he shouted, and the audience roared in response. "Yeah, that's what I thought!

Again, the crowd cheered and roared which Louise joined enthusiastically. The announcer smiled as he brought the megaphone to his lips.

"Before we begin, let's go over some ground rules for any newcomers with us today. There are four groups each with fifteen people. Each group will go out one at a time all at once, and the top three performers will advance to the next round. During the finals, the top three from the second set will compete the top prize!"

He moved his arm to the side, beckoning a dark-skinned bikini-clad woman to walk out carrying a large golden trophy high above her head. Try as she might, Louise couldn't help but involuntarily twitch her eye as the woman undulated her way onto the stage, and the looks some of the men were giving weren't helping, but forced herself to instead focus on what the announcer had said. Judging by the word choice, she assumed that a panel of judges would be scoring the various participants on how they surfed. That likely meant the flashier the better, which admittedly got Louise a little nervous. Still, she steeled herself and her resolve. Louise refused to let herself back down from this, and as the announcer finished talking and beckoned all but group A to move towards the spectator stands, Louise calmly sat down and began to watch.

* * *

" _Welcome back, everybody, to the second round of the Cyllage City Mantine Surfing Tournament!_ " Tanuki 'announced' from behind a mound of sand vaguely shaped like a desk he and his fellow Pokémon had assembled near the viewing area. Saito and Louise, rather than forcing their Pokémon to stay in their Pokéballs instead let them out so they could watch. It was something they all appreciated, even Maindo just for the chance to see people wipe out in spectacular fashion, but after the first round they decided that simply standing back and not doing anything was boring. At the very least, Saito and Louise managed to get through, although their inclusion was simply due to the fact that they didn't fall off their Mantines like most of their competition. Clearly, the Cyllage Tournament was meant for amateurs first and foremost.

So, as the remaining competitors regrouped, Tanuki decided to spice things up and provide some color commentary, if only for his own amusement. The others, even the stoic Ronin, decided to pitch in, and as the surfers including Saito and Louse waited in the water, they were all having a blast. Soon enough, the other spectators and their Pokémon caught wind of what they were doing, and now their attention was being split between the surfers themselves and the Pokémon's antics.

" _It's good to be back, Tanuki_ ," Brennaraki said as she sat on a stump of sand, her head and upper body poking above the sand desk. " _We have been seeing some exciting surfing this afternoon, and I for one cannot wait what the rest of our competitors have to offer us._ "

" _Speaking of, we go live to our on the scene correspondents Esprit and Maindo for some lively details on this group of competitors._ "

' _Thank you, Tanuki,_ ' Esprit telepathically 'spoke' into a small stick with a leaf sticking out the top like a microphone. ' _The spirit of competition is visible between all of them, and you see it even from here. I specifically want to point out two competitors, Louise Vallière and Saito Hiraga. Can you believe that they only started Mantine Surfing just a few hours ago and already they're in the semi-finals?_ '

' _I certainly can,_ ' Maindo haughtily commented. ' _Their lack of expertise is quite apparent. It's a miracle they even made it through, which brings me to another point. How can a tourney of this caliber call itself a worthy competition if they'll just let anyone join? Not just them, but the majority of the competitors I've seen today have been quite subpar. It's insulting to the people who've spent years working on their craft, sacrificing time, money, and the opportunity for real jobs to pursue their dreams of catching the gnarliest of waves. Truly, inspirational to us all._ '

Esprit snorted lightly at Maindo's tone while Tanuki outright laughed. The others smiled or lightly chuckled, then they heard Auspice lightly bark. They turned their attention back towards the surfers, who they saw were now standing up on their Mantines.

' _Ooh, it looks like we're about to begin!_ ' Esprit announced with a large smile on her face. True to her word, the Mantines were swimming towards an emerging wave that was cresting as it neared the shore. The surfers were racing towards it, the more experienced and arguably professional surfers at the front while the remaining amateurs, including Saito and Louise, were in the back. The two of them were crouching low on top of their Mantines to keep themselves steady, and by the time they reached the wave, the others were already there and speeding along.

" _Louise and Saito have made it to the wave!_ " Ronin 'reported' from further along the beach. " _Looks like they aren't content with being at the back of the pack and are speeding up._ "

True to Ronin's word, Saito and Louise were both gently urging their Mantines to speed up. They passed by a few of their fellow surfers, trying to catch up to the frontrunners which included the two men that got them joining this competition in the first place. Unlike Saito and Louise, they were surfing with confidence, one of them even skimming the top of the wave as though it were a rail.

' _See, right here is a perfect example of what I mean,_ ' Maindo pointed out while gesturing towards one of them with his arm. ' _How many hours do you think it took for him to get there? Hours he could've spent elsewhere, like working at a PokéMart? Much more than the three Saito and Louise went through._ '

' _And yet, they're catching up!_ ' Esprit happily replied. Sure enough, Saito and Louise were continuing to speed up, now much more confidently zigzagging through their opponents with confident smiles on their faces. Auspice looked on, then felt a faint pulse through her horn that caused her to sit down and nod.

" _Let's see how much longer their confidence will last,_ " she announced just as the wave, now closer to the shore, rose further. The top, once smooth, crested and began to form a tube. The more experienced surfers eagerly went inside, while a few amateurs wiped out attempting to do the same. One in particular managed to make it in partially, only to be sucked up into the swirling water and fall off his Mantine, where the surfer bounced on the water a few times before getting shot out like a cannonball.

' _Ooh, wipe out! Could've stuck the landing a little better, but overall a nice splash. Seven out of ten,_ ' Maindo commented with an eager glee in this telepathic voice. The Pokémon watched as Saito and Louise made their way towards the hole, and they wondered what their trainers would do. Saito seemed nervous about going in, but Louise instead furrowed her brow and confidently went inside. A moment later, Saito followed her, and their trainers disappeared from sight.

" _They went inside, I can't see them anymore!_ " Aile announced from overhead, then paused. " _Wait, I see something. Can't quite…_ "

Suddenly, a body shot out of the wave. As it flailed in the air, the Pokémon could see that it was Saito just before he crashed into water. His Mantine broke from the wave and raced towards him, and Maindo laughed and clapped his hands.

' _Ten out of ten!_ ' he cheered, but the others ignored him.

' _Looks like Louise is the last hope of the amateurs!_ ' Esprit announced, bringing her hand to her chest. ' _Will she take home the gold for us all?!_ '

' _Probably not,_ ' Maindo said.

" _You don't know that, Maindo!_ " Brennaraki countered. " _Look, she's leaving the tunnel now!_ "

As Brennaraki pointed out, Louise and a handful of other surfers exited the tunnel and shot out the other side. A few behind her wiped out at the sudden change, and Louise herself nearly wobbled off before regaining balance and continuing on. She was getting close to the two surfers from before, a determined look on her face that was focused squarely on them. She tried swerving past them, but her opponents noticed and immediately moved to block her path.

" _Oh, they meant to do that! The jerks!_ " Aile called out. The others could easily figure that, and as the wave drew closer and closer to the shore, Louise continued to try and move past them. Then her head shot to the top of the wave, and a strange look crossed her face before she swerved to the top of the wave at high speed. Still standing on top of her Mantine, Louise flew high into the air, her trajectory bringing her in front of the two surfers as they incredulously watched her descent. When she landed, she did so right in front of them, sending heaps of water shooting into their faces that they weren't expecting. They lost their balance, and a moment later they fell off their Mantines and skipped across the water like a rock. Louise triumphantly turned and pointed both of her hands at them, then lost her balance as well and fell off her Mantine.

"Ooh, that's going to leave a mark," Derflinger called out, watching as Louise bounced repeatedly on the water up and over the wave, finally resting on the other side.

" _No!_ " Brennaraki yelled, standing on top of the sand desk to try and get a better look at her trainer. Luckily, her Mantine was there for her, so a moment later Louise was back on the surface holding onto the Mantine as her lower body dangled below in the saltwater. The remaining contestants shot past her as Mantine kept her safe, and for a moment a disappointed look crossed her face. A moment later, however, Louise's expression shifted to a happy and satisfied one. At once, their Pokémon knew she was going to be alright, and then saw Saito make his way towards her then, together, they made their way back to the beach.

* * *

In the end, a surfer they didn't know won first place. Neither Louise nor Saito made it into the top five, but as they walked back to their hotel with participation ribbons wrapped around their necks and Saito's hands crossed behind his head, they couldn't help but think back to their experience that day. Their Pokémon were alongside them, Tanuki balancing himself on Saito's head like it was a surfboard while Ronin merely looked exasperatingly at his teammate. Brennaraki walked alongside Louise's feet as did Shogun next to Saito, while Tengu, Esprit, and Maindo sat on top of Auspice.

" _Maindo, where did you get that?_ " Shogun asked, tilting up his head up to look at the Ralts as he ate from a bag of chips.

' _Found it,_ ' Maindo replied unhelpfully.

"… _Can I have one? They smell nice._ "

' _Sure, why not. Catch._ ' Maindo picked up a chip and threw it to the side, which Shogun immediately ran after, jumped up to catch in his mouth, then ran back with a satisfied smirk on his face. The other Pokémon laughed at the Tyrunt's antics, as did their trainers before Louise had a thoughtful look cross her face.

"You know," Louise pointed out as she held up the ribbon to her face, "I feel like them just handing these out defeats the purpose."

"Welcome to the Participation Trophy Debate. It's been going on for decades, and it doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon."

"Indeed," Louise replied, letting go of the ribbon and letting silence take hold once again. After a moment, she smiled and looked forward. "I had fun today."

Saito looked at her, then smiled and nodded. "So did I. Have to admit, losing stung. When we got to the second round, I thought we had a chance."

"So did I," Louise admitted, "but we lost. It stinks, but we had fun. That's all that matters, really."

"That and us causing those jerks to wipe out!" Saito pointed out with a toothy grin, which Louise returned.

"Oh, you saw that?"

"Yes, yes I did. It was simultaneously awesome and hilarious, so good job."

"Yeah, I thought it was too." Louise smiled and laughed, which Saito joined for a moment as they let the warm memories sink in. Behind them, Derflinger watched as the two friends continued to talk among themselves. He saw no reason to add anything, instead he was just happy that the two of them were taking their loss well. Derflinger had been around for a very long time, and he had seen countless people, both good and bad, lose their composure over simply losing a friendly competition. For a moment, he had thought Louise would be the same, but luckily she had a good head on her shoulders. One that recognized the value of good sportsmanship.

He supposed, given her current goal, such a trait would be invaluable. After all, she was aiming to be Pokémon Champion. That was a lofty goal, one worthy of being striven towards but extremely difficult to achieve. He hoped and believed Louise, out of everyone, could achieve it, but he had to know that were she to fail, she would simply take it on the chin and continue moving forward. If there was one thing that this latest adventure of theirs proved, it was that she could. In the end, Derflinger supposed that was really all that mattered.

[~][~]

Surf's up, everyone! Special thanks to Darwin Candidate, Grendel4823, and Yuri Vampire for all their help in bringing this story to life.

Now, onto the Q&A:

 **Pherix2003:** I'm happy to have you with us! As for the Season moniker, yes we do plan on having multiple seasons. Or rather, split Kalos and (hopefully) Halkegenia into multiple seasons in terms of a story structure. Think of Season 1 as the first half of Louise's journey in Kalos, with Season 2 being the second half. And yes, I am writing this with a group of people. A few have left since the story started, and a few have joined in. Through it all, we are determined to finish Louise's journey in Kalos however long it takes.

 **BloodStalker500:** Happy you like Auspice and Shogun! I enjoy writing them as well.

 **xyzdreadnought:** Thank you, truly. I like to think that I'm both doing a good job with the Pokemon story structure as well as writing Louise. I'm happy that my story is an inspiration to you as well.

 **keybladelight:** Please use punctuation when you're making a review. The lack of it makes it difficult to really determine exactly what you're trying to say. As for Halkegenia, we do want to explore it, however the priority is Kalos. We're definitely finishing that storyline, but Halkegenia is a wait and see for us.

That's it for this week. See you all next time!


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